Quarter-Finals: USA, Germany survive, joined by newcomers Slovenia and New Zealand

LAUSANNE (Switzerland) - Four teams remain standing at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2025 with favorites USA and Germany both surviving tough tests in the Quarter-Finals while Slovenia and New Zealand made history - the latter spoiling the party for hosts Switzerland.

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United States needed everything they could muster but managed to fight past Americas rival Canada 108-102 in probably the best game of the tournament thus far.

USA had temporarily led by 13 points but Canada roared back into the game and it was tight throughout the second half. USA just made more plays down the stretch to move into the Semis.

AJ Dybantsa scored 22 points and Mikel Brown picked up 20 points and 8 assists for the Americans.

"It's amazing, just to be here - big stage. Canada played a great game but at the end of the day we have one goal - that’s to win gold. We pulled it out. No matter what the score was. We won the game," said JJ Mandaquit, who chipped in 4 points and 7 assists.

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Next up for USA will be New Zealand, who have never reached this level before but made history by beating Switzerland 84-70.

Hayden Jones scored 23 points to go with 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 blocks, Julius Halaifonua had 17 points and Oscar Goodman tallied 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Junior Tall Blacks, who were already playing in their first-ever Quarter-Finals.

"It means a lot. Basketball has been on the rise for the last five years. It keeps getting bigger every day, and this just shows we can compete with the best teams in the world," Goodman said.

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It was a long time coming but Germany finally have returned to the Semi-Finals, beating Australia to end a 38-year wait. The Germans nearly wasted a 23-point lead as the Australians got back within four points but ended up prevailing 80-67.

"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," said Hannes Steinbach, who tallied 16 points and 16 rebounds.

What asked about the country finally ending a 38-year wait, Steinbach said: "That's pretty amazing. This group here is pretty good and we can achieve even more."

Slovenia secured their first-ever berth in the Semi-Finals by running away from Israel 79-55 in the Quarter-Finals and set up a date with Germany. The Balkan used a 17-3 run over the final 4 minutes of the first half to take control and were never threatened the rest of the way.

Zak Smrekar tallied 22 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists and Urban Kroflic chipped in 13 points in the win. Slovenia's best previous finish was seventh in 2003.

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Classification 9-16

- Thiago Sucatzky dished out a FIBA U19 World Cup record 15 assists as Argentina beat Cameroon 85-67. Tyler Kropp added 25 points and 9 rebounds in the win. - Nikola Dzepina totaled 26 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists in a 94-88 victory for Serbia over Dominican Republic. - Mali had no problem with Jordan, rolling to a 91-50 victory thanks to Sekou Bagayoko scoring 22 points and Youssef Traore registering a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds. - France bounced back from their disappointing loss to Switzerland in the Round of 16 to beat China 85-76. Marc-Owen Fodzo Dada scored 21 points and Yohann Sissoko chipped in 17 points for the winner.