BC "VEF Riga" (Latvia) - BC "Prometey" - 66:87 (19:15, 16:17, 7:25, 24:30).
April 14. Latvian-Estonian basketball league Pafbet. 1/2 final. 2nd match. Riga (Latvia).
Olympic Centre Rimi. 1038 spectators.
BC "VEF Riga" (Latvia): Bumeisters (0), Pipes (19 + 4 assists), Whittington (24 + 7 rebounds), Blums (7), Toro Barea (8 + 11 rebounds) - starting five; Gulbis, captain (8), Pinnis (0), Putans (0).
BC "Prometey": March (13 + 3 steals), Tkachenko (15), Lukashov (0), Kennedy (12), Odiase (13 + 7 rebounds) - starting five; Clavell (13), Sanon (9 + 4 assists), Sydorov, captain (8), Balvin (0), Bobrov (4).
The semi-final return match of the Latvian-Estonian league Pafbet playoffs between "Prometey" and "VEF Riga" was played at the same arena, the Rimi Olympic Centre in Riga, but this time the club from the capital of Latvia was the host. Aiming to enter the final, unlike “Prometey”, he had no right to make a mistake. Instead, Ronen Ginzburg's team, in case of success, could get the first berth to the decisive stage.
In the debut of the match, the rivals took turns taking the status of the leader in this confrontation, but "VEF Riga" was in lead for most part of the playing time, surpassing the "titans" in terms of the percentage of field shots. Taking this into account, the local victory of Janis Gailitis' team in the quarter - 19:15 - looked absolutely deserved.
The second ten-minute segment was initially even more successful for our rival: in the 16th minute, it managed to create a small margin of 9 points - 33:24. "Prometey" did not allow to develop this advantage and before the big break reduced its lag to one possession - 32:35.
In the second half of the game, thanks to a 15-3 run in the first six minutes of the quarter N3, "Prometey" finally established its dominance. Our team began to surpass the opponents in shooting performance and forced them to make a large number of turnovers. The "titans" won the quarter in all regards, and this 10-minute segment became a decisive one in the confrontation.
In the last quarter, "Prometey" confidently brought the game to the winning end and now is going to spend two days waiting for the opponent for the final. If it is "Kalev/Cramo" the winner of the regular championship, our team will defend its championship title in a single match in Tallinn. In case that the Latvian club "Ventspils" enters the final, "Prometey" will host the opponent on the own arena.
