Finland had passed their qualification test with flying colours, beating Sweden, Great Britain and Montenegro, before falling an expected defeat to Lithuania on Monday.
A match against world champions Germany was always going to be the toughest encounter, and Lassi Tuovi’s side can be thankful they were all but guaranteed to finish third before tip-off, no matter the result.
The knockout stages, beginning with the Round of 16 on Saturday and Sunday, will be played at the Xiaomi Arena in Riga, Latvia, where Turkey beat Serbia 95-90 this evening in Group A, meaning Olympic silver medallists Serbia will be Finland’s Round of 16 opponents on Saturday.
As the home crowd gave their team their send off, the Wolfpack were inspired to come back from an early 14-6 deficit to just two points behind at the end of the first quarter, at 21-19.
But Germany, spearheaded by Franz Wagner, Tristan da Silva and Johannes Thiemann, went up another gear in the second quarter, scoring 29 points and taking the final seven points of the half to lead 50-36 with 20 minutes played.
With a huge game to come at the weekend, Finland rotated the bench and never looked likely to mount a comeback, as Germany danced to Wagner’s tune and extended their advantage to 20 points come the end of the third quarter.
A tiring Finland, who only utilised star man Lauri Markkanen for less than 22 minutes, only put up 25 points in the entire second half, 12 of which came in the final quarter, while a three from Thiemann with four minutes to play gave Germany a game-high lead of 34 points, at 89-55.
Alexander Madsen added some respectability to the score, taking the Finns past the 60-point mark, before two da Silva free throws completed the scoring, as Germany ran out 91-61 winners.
Wagner top scored with 23 points, clear of teammate Dennis Schroder and Finland’s Olivier Nkamhoua with 16 apiece. Markkanen contributed just 11 points, though his nine rebounds was beaten only by Nkamhoua’s 11, while Schroder picked up nine assists.
Germany will face Portugal in the Round of 16, also on Saturday.
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