
Euro champs end Emus' World Cup medal dream
After a horror start, the Emus faced a 23-point deficit early in the third quarter at Switzerland's Lausanne Arena on Friday night.
They rallied and cut the margin to four points in the final period before Germany steadied through star duo Hannes Steinbach and Christian Anderson.
Luke Fennell (18 points) and Roman Siulepa (17) led the scoring for Australia, with Jacob Furphy (13, eight rebounds) also influential.
But their efforts weren't enough to steer the Emus to the semi-finals for the first time since an Andrew Bogut-led team won a historic gold medal in 2003.
Steinbach (16 points, 16 rebounds) and Anderson (18, eight) led the way for Germany, who will take on Slovenia in the semi-finals.
"In the second half, especially the third quarter, they came back with some big threes, but we found our rhythm again and finished the game," Steinbach said.
"It's a pretty big thing that we were able to show the character when we have a run against us.
"We stuck together and found a way to win."
Germany have never won a medal at the Under-19 World Cup and have reached the semi-finals for the first time since 1987, when they finished fourth.
"That's pretty amazing," NBA prospect Steinbach said.
"This group here is pretty good and we can achieve even more."
Slovenia, who were beaten 75-68 by Germany in the group stage, qualified for the last four with a dominant 79-55 win over Israel.
In the other side of the draw, eight-time champions USA take on Canada and New Zealand face hosts Switzerland in their quarter-finals on Sunday morning (AEST).

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