ANKARA, Turkey — After qualifying second from its pool for the finals of the Efes Pilsen World Cup, Latvia’s top ballers failed to deliver in their final two games, losing the semi-final to eventual champions Croatia and the subsequent play-off for third and fourth to Germany.

In the semi-final match up on Saturday, the Croatians often opened strong leads against the Latvians, only for the Latvians to continually claw their way back into the game. Down by seven (46-39) at half-time, Latvia went on a scoring spree at the start of the 3rd quarter to tie things up 46 apiece. However, this seemed to stir the Croatians to life who began to ease away from the Latvians, in the end winning comfortably 96-81. Kaspars Kambala was again the star for Latvia with 13 points, alongside Kaspars Bērziņš and Armands Šķēle, also with 13 each.

Artūrs Štālbergs looks for a shot during Sunday's game between Latvia and Germany.

This meant that Latvia would now face Germany, the other defeated semi-finalists. Latvia started strongly, building a commanding 15-5 lead early on, but the Germans soon settled into their rhythm and began to control the game. A particularly strong second quarter saw Latvia’s lead cut to one at the break (40-39). A weak third quarter ultimately cost Latvia, who only managed 14 points in the spell. In the end the Germans cruised to victory 89-72. Not for the first time this tournament, the Latvians relied heavily on Kambala who again top-scored with 15 points.

The Latvians come away from Turkey with just one win under their belt. Some serious work needs to be done over the course of this week if they are to reckoned with in Eurobasket ‘09 that tips off this weekend in Poland. Having competed strongly with Lithuania earlier this month, there is no doubt Latvia have the ability and manpower to compete at the highest level but it is a case of them sustaining pressure and concentration for the entire four periods.