BC “VEF Riga” (Latvia) – BC “Prometey” – 83:76 (26:29, 15:10, 16:19, 26:18). March 2/ Latvian-Estonian basketball league Pafbet. Riga (Latvia). Olympic centre Rimi. 839 spectators.
BC “VEF Riga”: Bumeisters (3), Pipes (21), Bertans, captain (10), Whittington (18 + 7 rebounds), Gulbis (10 + 7 rebounds) – starting five; Lottie (15 + 4 assists), Pinnis (6), Blums (0).
BC “Prometey”: Lypovyy (3 + 3 steals), Clavell (5 + 4 assists), Lukashov (3 + 4 assists), Kennedy (8), Odiase (6) – starting five; Sanon (8), Agada (10), Balvin (10 + 7 rebounds), Tkachenko (3), March (20), Bobrov (0).
In the central match of the current game week in the Latvian-Estonian League, there was a clash between "VEF Riga" and "Prometey" - a kind of Riga’s derby. Fans of both teams filled the stands of the Olympic Centre Rimi and got an intriguing and equal confrontation between their favourites.
The starting quarter happened to be an extremely productive one: within the first 4 minutes, the teams together scored 27 points and in the next 6 minutes – by 1 point more. At the same time, "VEF Riga" mostly led in score. The players of the hosting team demonstrated quite a good three-point shooting percentage. However, Issuf Sanon's second straight three-pointer in the 10th minute of the confrontation brought the “titans” ahead and, by and large, allowed them to win the quarter. Both teams showed basketball of very high quality: there was just one turnover in two quarters.
In the second quarter, the productiveness of the opponents dropped sharply, vice versa the number of turnovers increased. "VEF Riga" was slightly better than the "red-and-whites" and went for the long break with an advantage of one possession - 41:39.
Competitive basketball continued in the second half of the game as well. During 30 minutes of the match, none of the opponents managed to break away by more than 5 (!) points. The "titans" went to the last break in the status of the leader, however, with a nominal advantage - 58:57.
In the debut of the decisive 10-minute segment, the player of «VEF Riga» Jaizek Lottie, who was «silent» the entire match, brought 8 points to his team. With the help of Lottie, the Latvian club created a small gap of 8 points and entered with it the last five minutes of the quarter.
For such an equal game, it was a rather crucial lag for the "red-and-white". The "titans" tried to save the match with long-range shots in offence and pressing in defence. However, Denys Lukashov and Issuf Sanon made mistakes from outside the perimeter, instead, the opponents acted with a great inspiration in the decisive minutes.
"Prometey" lost with a score of 76:83 and allowed "VEF Riga" to get closer. Now, our team switches to the BKT EuroCup playoffs: on March 6, it will host Greek "Aris" at Arena Riga.
