Germany became the first finalist in this year's edition of the European Basketball Championship.

In Riga, the world champions will fight for a second gold medal in their history after a 98:86 victory over the pleasant surprise Finland.

The Germans pulled ahead by 14 points at halftime before the Scandinavians cut their deficit to eight before the final quarter. There was no turnaround in the quarter, and so Germany will play in the final again after 2005, when they lost to Greece. The team's only title dates back to the home championship in 1993, when Germany defeated Russia by a point. The team finished third at the last EuroBasket in 2022, when they prevailed over Poland.

The winners' top scorer was Dennis Schröder with 26 points. Franz Wagner added 22, Tristan da Silva scored 13, and Isaac Bonga and Daniel Theis each finished with 10 points.

For the Finns, Olivier Nkamhoua led all scorers with 21 points. Their big star Lauri Markkanen added 16, and Mikael Jantunen and Miikka Muurinen each scored 12.

In the gold medal match on Sunday, Germany will play the winner of the Balkan derby between Greece and Turkey, which is tonight at 9 p.m. | BGNES