EuroBasket 2015: Germany's late comeback bid falls just short in loss to Turkey

Germany's late charge comes up just short in a 80-75 loss to Turkey on Wednesday.

Things couldn't have began any worse for Germany who quickly fell behind 9-0 out of the gate and then trailed 31-11 at the end of the first quarter. Desperate for a spark, Germany switched up its defense to a trapping zone in the second and held Turkey scoreless for the first five minutes of the quarter. However, their offense still wasn't able to get on track as they were only able to cut the lead down to 14.

Germany came out much more focused and determined in the second half and started to whittle away at the sizable deficit. They got to within 10 points in the third before Turkey regained control and pushed the lead back out to 18.

Atlanta's Dennis Schröder was held in check like most of his teammates throughout the first half. He finally found a rhythm in the fourth quarter and went on the attack finishing with a game-high 24 points to go along with five assists and five rebounds.

Germany whittled the lead down into single digits late in the fourth, but Turkey made just enough free throws down the stretch to keep them at arms length.

Germany finished the game shooting just 34 percent and that was helped immensely by a strong fourth quarter. They were just 5-26 from three-point range on the afternoon. Dirk Nowitzki added 15 points for Germany while Robin Benzing chipped in 13. Semah Erdin led Turkey with 16 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots. Ersan Ilyasova and Ali Muhammed added 15 points each.

Germany drops to 1-2 in the Group B standings and will wrap up group play with matchups against Italy and Spain. The top four finishers in the group will advance to the second round of the tournament.