Mārtiņš Laksa and Mārtiņš Meiers scored 13 points each in the Latvian national team, who also won eight rebounds. Eight points were for Artim Atem, but Marek Mejer scored four points, won 11 balls under the baskets and made six assists.
Edin Atičs scored 15 points for his opponents, but Miralems Halilovičs scored 13 points.
Head coach Roberts Štelmahers made his debut at the helm of the Latvian national team, but Artūrs Kurucs, Māris Gulbis and Klāvs Čavars spent their first games in the national team. Another debutant Artūrs Žagars was in the application, but did not leave the field.
Mārtiņš Meiers, Mārtiņš Laksa, Aigars Šķēle, Artis Ate and Mareks Mejeris were in the top five in the Latvian national team. Latvia won the first basket in the second minute, when Meiers reached 3: 2 with a three-point move, but a minute later Ate increased the Latvian lead by half. After that, Laksa was the first of the Latvians to throw a “trejaci” and a little later threw a closer throw – 10: 7.
Šķēle also threw in the “third”, who later reached 15:10 in the quick counterattack, but after that Jānis Blūms was also accurate from the game and penalty line (19:14). Artyom Butyankov also entered the penalty line and Rezekne was punctual (21:17), but by the end of the quarter the Bosnians regained the point.
The Latvians started the second quarter with unsuccessful attacks, as a result of which they were left empty for more than five minutes and ended up driving with 21:27. Meiers interrupted the moment of silence with the ball hit in the basket from above, but then Lax’s three-pointer followed – 26:27. Four minutes before the end of the game, Meieris took the lead, but Meiers increased the lead.
With the throw behind the perimeter, the Bosnians reached a draw, but the leadership was quickly restored by Meiers (32:30). Debutant Kurucs (34:30) scored two points from the penalty line in the last minute of the half, and Laksa (36:30) was unmistakable. In the half, Latvia went with a six-point lead.
In the second part of the game, the first points were scored by Meiers, but a few minutes later, the veteran Rinalds Sirsniņš with a “threesome” achieved an advantage of more than ten points – 41:30. A little later, after Sirsniņš’s clever pass, Ate was also infallible from afar (44:32). The guests recovered a bit, but then Kurucs and Mejeris restored their 12-point lead after a few passes (48:36).
The guests quickly healed five points, but Kurucs reached 50:41 after a thunderstorm. The Bosnians did not succeed in the implementation of free throws, while Latvia used its opportunity from the game to play for Ati, who was infallible from afar (53:44). With the siren at the end of the third quarter, the visitors regained three points.
As in the first half of the second quarter, in the first half of the second quarter Latvia was unable to conquer the basket. The drought, which lasted more than seven minutes, made it possible to make a breakthrough and take control – 60:53. Just two minutes and 24 seconds before the end of the regular time, Latvia scored the first points in the quarter, with Laks taking a long shot. Meier’s exact halfway further erased the Bosnian dominance (58:60).
After a minute break, Latvia successfully played in the defense and in the second half Sirsniņš took the lead with a long shot. Less than 20 seconds before the final whistle, the Bosnians regained control (62:61), leaving Latvia with the opportunity to attack. Seven seconds before the end, Laksa did not hit a half-shot, and Mejer failed to throw from the bottom of the basket. The superiority of the heart allowed the guests to take free throws 1.3 seconds before the final whistle, but none of them were accurate.
As it is known, none of the five ULEB Euroleague basketball players can help the Latvian team – Jānis Strēlnieks, Jānis Timma, Dairis Bertāns, Rihards Lomažs and Rolands Šmits. Ojārs Siliņš and Žanis Peiners were removed from the list due to injuries during the training camp.
Kristaps Dārgais, Kaspars Vecvagars and Mārcis Vītols were not included in the application from the list of 15 people in the first game with Bosnia and Herzegovina. The decision was made by the team’s head coach Robert Stelmacher after Thursday evening’s training.
In the second game of the group, Greece beat Bulgaria in their field with the result 73:63 (19:17, 21:17, 14:12, 19:17).
Lefteris Bohoridis was the most productive with 19 points for the Greeks, and Dimitars Dimitrovs with 15 points for the Bulgarians.
On Monday, during a trip in Botevgrad, the Latvian state unit will face a fight with Bulgaria.
The Latvian men’s basketball national team has played 11 times in the final tournament of the European Championship since 1992, achieving the best result so far in 2017, when the fifth place was won.
The Bosnians have qualified for the final tournament nine times since the collapse of Yugoslavia in 1991. The best result was achieved during his debut in Germany in 1993, when he won eighth place. On the way to it, in the decisive game of the second round of the final tournament, the Bosnians beat Latvia with 102: 97, which finished in tenth place.
The last time the Bosnians played in the final tournament was in 2015, winning 23rd place.
The Latvian Basketball Union (LBS) reports that the Latvian and Bosnian roads intersect for the second time in the European Championship qualification tournament. In 2012, Latvia lost 84:87 in Sarajevo, but reversed in Riga with 80:64. Both teams went to the final tournament, but in the final tournament in 2013, in the first match of the group tournament, Latvia was superior with 86:75. Previously, Bosnians were superior in three games – in the 1993 European Championship with 102: 97, in 1997 – 96:94 and in the test game in 2003 – with 91:75.
Opponents of the Latvian men’s national team in the qualifying H group of the 2021 European Championship will be the Greek national team in addition to the national team of Bulgaria and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
There are 32 teams participating in the qualifying tournament, divided into eight groups. Out of the four groups in which the countries organizing the final tournament (Czech Republic, Georgia, Italy and Germany) play, the top two teams qualify for the final tournament, and from the other four – three each. The games take place in three national “windows” – in February and November 2020, as well as in February 2021.
The final tournament of the 2021 European Championship will take place from 2 to 19 September in four countries – the Czech Republic (Prague), Georgia (Tbilisi), Italy (Milan) and Germany (group tournament in Cologne, playoffs in Berlin). 24 teams will take part in it.
Last summer, Roberts Štelmahers was confirmed as the head coach of the Latvian national team. His assistants are Uvis Helmanis, Raimonds Feldmanis and physical fitness specialist Oskars Ernšteins.
The expanded list of candidates for the Latvian national team to participate in the qualifying tournament of the 2021 European Championship:
Jānis Blūms, Artūrs Kurucs (both – “VEF Rīga”), Aigars Šķēle (Tallinn “Kalev” / “Cramo”, Estonia), Kaspars Vecvagars (Palencia “Chocolates Trapa”, Spain), Mārcis Vītols (“Ventspils”), Rinalds Sirsniņš, Kristaps Dārgais (both – “Ogre”), Artūrs Žagars (“Joventut” in Badalona, Spain), Artis Ate (“U-Banca Transilvania” in Cluj-Napoca, Romania), Mārtiņš Laksa (“Start” in Lublin, Poland), Māris Gulbis, Klāvs Čavars (both – “Ventspils”), Artyom Butyankov (Yaroslavl “Burevestnik”, Russia), Marek Mejer (Perm “Parma”, Russia), Mārtiņš Meiers (Podgorica’s “Buduchnnost VOLI”, Montenegro).
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