Game Summary

Turning point: Germany led 57-54 but committed turnovers on six straight possessions and went nearly five minutes without a score to hand Croatia the momentum.

Hero: Ukic. The Croatian star continually broke down the German defense, getting to the lane and converting.

Stats: 12 of 26, 20 and 13.  Germany made 12 of 26 three-pointers but shot themselves in the foot with 20 turnovers. Croatia grabbed 13 offensive rebounds.

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Roko-Leni Ukic scored 18 points as Croatia earned the last Quarter-Final berth from the Qualifying Round Group E by holding off Germany 70-68.

The Croatians had four players in double figures and took advantage of Germany making 20 turnovers - including six straight turnovers in the fourth quarter - as they secured fourth place in the group with a 2-3 record.

"Even though we didn't play great basketball, we showed character and we're going to the quarters," said Ukic.

"It was a tough game as both teams wanted to make the quarterfinals. At the end of the game we got a couple of stops and Kresimir Loncar hit a big three-pointer to give us confidence for the next couple of possessions."

Croatia coach Jasmin Repesa praised his team for keeping their nerves when they trailed 57-54 midway through the final quarter.

"We expected a tough game. When we were losing 57-54 we didn't lose our head and in the end we played some tough defense," said Repesa, whose team out-scored Germany 27-6 in points off turnovers and second chance points.

Croatia also received 11 points each from Marko Popovic and Zoran Planinic while Sandro Nicevic added 10 points.

Germany bow out of the tournament despite another spirited fight from Dirk Bauermann's young team.

Heiko Schaffartzik led the way with 18 points - on perfect 6 of 6 shooting - while Patrick Femerling scored 15 points and Jan Jagla had 11 points.

"It was just a bad ending to a great, wonderful summer. I thought that we would have deserved to win the game.
But they deserved to win the game because they made the big plays offensively and defensively," said Bauermann.

"I am very proud of this team. We gained a lot of respect with this young team. We very positively surprised a lot of people. Today we are extremely disappointed. We can be proud of what we achieved."

After Germany scored the first basket of the game, Croatia scored 10 straight and led 14-3 after five minutes. It was 16-7 when Schaffartzik and Jagla each hit two three-pointers in a four-possession stretch for a 19-18 German lead.

Croatia however were ahead 20-19 after one period.

Germany again struggled out of the blocks in the second quarter, committing three straight turnovers and not scoring a basket until Steffen Hamann's lay-up nearly four minutes into the period.

Croatia began pulling away again, opening a 37-27 advantage with a minute left in the half. Jagla nailed another triple and a layup at the buzzer to bring Germany within 37-32 at intermission.

In the third period, Croatia were held scoreless for nearly four minutes but Germany were only able to climb within 43-41. Lucca Staiger nailed a triple and then Hamann hit a driving layup just before the buzzer to give the Germans a 50-49 lead after three quarters.

Germany were able to push the cushion to three points after Staiger's triple to make it 57-54. But Bauermann's troops committed turnovers on six straight possessions.

Femerling's free throws ended the nearly five-minute drought and had Germany trailing just 61-59 with two minutes to play. But Loncar nailed a big triple to make it 64-59 and after Planinic pushed the gap to 67-62, Schaffartzik hit an impossible trey. But Demond Greene missed a triple with five seconds left which could have made it 69-68.

Roko Leni Ukic (Croatia):

"It was a very hard game. We broke the game with a three-pointer in last minutes. I'm proud of my team because we didn't play good basketball but we showed character."

Jasmin Repesa (Croatia Coach):

"I like the German mentality because they never stop, they never quit. Our first goal was to reach the Quarter-Finals. Now we want to go to Turkey for the next championship. To reach this goal and others the way we played is not enough. I hope we will be better mentaly in the next round."

Patrick Femerling (Germany):

"Congratulations to our opponents. We played great basketball. In basketball sometimes little things make difference, one three-pointer or a rebound here or there. And in this game it happened."

Dirk Bauermann (Germany Coach):

"First of all I would like to thank the Polish Basketball Federation, organisers and all the people from Poland. You guys were great. Everybody was extremely friendly. It was a bad ending of a wonderful summer. They deserved to win."

Either Croatia will live up their expectations by reaching the final eight or Germany will continue their magical EuroBasket 2009 run by booking their trip to Katowice.

Both teams are coming into the game after losses - but with different tastes left in their mouth.

Croatia knew their game against France was not the most meaningful game as they would have to beat Germany regardless to advance.

Germany, however, played their first poor contest in the competition just two days after nearly toppling Greece.

German coach Dirk Bauermann will have to get his team back in the correct frame of mind as the young, inexperienced group attempts to keep its fine ride going.

Croatia meanwhile once again showed their inconsistency against France, playing a fantastic first half before slipping back into their chronic lackluster play after the intermission.

Croatia must beat Germany if they hope to still have a chance to prove all the pundits correct who consider them a title contender.

Head-to-head: Germany lead the all-time series 5-4, including wins in the last five games. The most recent meeting came at EuroBasket 2007 in the fifth-place game.

Last time out: Germany lost to F.Y.R. of Macedonia 86-75 while Croatia were beaten by France 87-79.

Key Match-up: Zoran Planinic vs. Demond Greene. Planinic was kept pretty much under wraps in Croatia's loss against France with just three points on 1 of 5 shooting both from the field and the foul stripe as well as five turnovers after having committed just five total turnovers in the previous four games. Germany would be given a big boost if Greene can give them some tough defense against Planinic.

X-Factor: Germany power forward Jan Jagla.  Jagla looked fantastic in Germany's games versus Russia and Latvia, averaging 16 points, nine rebounds and 1.5 blocks. In the two games since then, he has totaled just eight points, 10 rebounds as well as zero assists, steals or blocks. With Croatia having a fine group of big men, Jagla had best show up if Germany want to win.

Key Stat: 17. Germany turned the ball over 17 times against F.Y.R.O.M., which was 4.5 more than their average of 12.5 coming into the game. Dirk Bauermann's team is going to have to take care of the ball better to advance.

Sounding Off: "We're disappointed but we don't have a lot of time to be disappointed. This is a tournament. We have one more shot and we want to use it. We just need to do it all against Croatia. We can only influence our own fate against Croatia. We have to play hard against Croatia and see what's going to happen." -German center Patrick Femerling