ON a night NBA veteran Dennis Schroder struggled with his shots, Germany — the only remaining unbeaten team in FIBA World Cup 2023 — found a way to win.

Franz Wagner made a triumphant return as Germany survived upset-minded Latvia, 81-79, in a heart-stopping quarterfinal battle at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Wagner, the 6-10 Orlando Magic forward, finished with a team-high 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting, eight rebounds and three assists for Germany, which arranged a highly-anticipated semifinal date with five-time champion united States on Friday.

With the win, Germany also booked a spot in next year’s year’s Paris Olympics as one of two highest-ranked tams rom Europe.

“My first game was a little bad at the end. But I was really happy about being out there with the guys and really enjoyed it,: said Wagner, who injured his ankle in Germany’s opening-day victory over Japan last Aug. 25

Andreas Obst added 13 points, Mo Wagner contributed 12 points and Johannes Thieman had 10 points and seven rebounds for Germany, which assured itself of its best finish in the World Cup since taking third place in 2002.

The Germans did it even with Schroder, the team’s leading scorer with 19.8 points and 6.8 assists per game during their five-game winning streak, was limited to only nine points on a forgettable 4-of-26 shooting , including 0-of-8 from the three-point area.

As per FIBA, Schroder’s missed 22 missed shots tied Kirk Penney’s “record for the most missed shots in the history of the World Cup.”

Penney, a guard from New Zealand, went 7/29 against Russia.in 2002

Arturs Zagars led Latvia with a game-high 24 points, followed by Davis Bertans with 20 points and Rolands Smits with 14 points.

Germany led 36-34 at halftime, but Latvia kept the game close with a strong showing in the third period.

A layup by Franz Wagner followed by a three-pointer by Isaac Bonga and big slam by Mo Wagner during a 14-1 run put the Germans ahead, 74-60.

Latvia, however, was not finished yet.

Germany nearly lost itsv10-point lead in the fourth quarter and watched Bertans’ game-winning three-pointer on the final possession with five seconds left bounce away.

It was the sixth straight win for Germany in the FIBA World Cup 2023..

Germany also won over Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Australia (85-82), Finland (101-75) and Asian heavyweight Japan (81-63) in the first round; and Georgia (100-73) and Slovenia (100-71) in the second round.

The scores:

Germany (81) – F. Wagner 16, Obst 13, M. Wagner 12, Thiemann 10, Schroder 9, Theis 9, Lo 6, Bonga 3, Voigtmann 3, Hollatz 0.
Latvia (79) – Zagars 24, Bertans 20, Smits 14, Grazulis 8 ,R. Kurucs 7, Zoriks 4, A. Kurucs 2, Strautins 0, Skele 0, Cavars 0.
Quarterscores: 13-16, 36-34, 62-59, 81-79.