The second round will be won by the team that wins the “two-game” tournament. In a week, the teams will meet in Riga, but if a third match is needed, it will take place next week in Dijon.
In the second division of the second stage, the winner of this pair will meet the teams of MHP Riesen in Ludwigsburg and Galatasaray in Istanbul, as well as the winner of Hapoel in Holon and Besiktas in Istanbul.
In the ranks of “VEF Rīga” Artis Ate was the most productive with 19 points, but Māris Gulbis scored 15 points, both of them realizing four long shots. Meanwhile, Ilya Gromov and Anrijs Miškas had 11 points, winning eight and five rebounds, respectively.
Due to injuries, Alexander Madsen and Reison Hemond could not help the Riga team.
The winners were 19 points scored by David Holston, who scored five long shots, and Gevin Weir had 18 points and ten rebounds.
“VEF Rīga” started the game with a nine-point break in the first two and a half minutes, but in the continuation, thanks to the accurate shots and the unsuccessful performance of the opponents, they gained the advantage of 11 points. Until the end of the quarter, the opponents played a bit and after the first ten minutes, the Rigans had a four-point advantage – 18:14.
If in the first quarter “VEF Rīga” basketball players quickly accumulated the norm of notes, in the second quarter the players of Dijon were more undisciplined. However, this did not help the Riga basketball players to protect the ten-point advantage, which was defeated by the owners of the field with a 10: 0 break, investing a large part of Holston, who sold five “thirds” in the first half. Taking a break, the opponents were in the lead – 39:36.
At the beginning of the second half, the silent leaders of “VEF Rīga” played successfully in the ranks of the guests, as well as Gulbis marked with two long shots. In the third quarter, the management changed several times, but before the final ten minutes, the teams were divided by four points – 61:57 in favor of JDA.
In the first half of the fourth quarter, Hedin Kerington scored two long shots and in the middle the home team achieved their biggest advantage in the match – ten points (74:64). Ate was also accurate behind the perimeter, who at one time defeated the opponents to seven points, but later he reached 75:78 with “penalties” and Gulbis with a long shot.
One and a half minutes before the final whistle, Ate reduced JDA’s lead to one point after the counterattack, but 55 seconds before the end, Gevin Weir restored the three-point difference from the penalty line (80:77). Ate’s counterattack was impressive and was only stopped by a shocking foul.
Ron Curry also didn’t throw his “grin” until 11 seconds before the end.
Rigans finished the subgroup tournament in third place in group D.
“VEF Rīga” won victories over Athens AEK and Treviso “NutriBullet”, but conceded twice to Sombathay’s “Falco” and once also to the winning teams.
In the last group tournament game, the “Vefans” gave in to “Falco” with the result 59:68. However, this game would not change anything for the Rigans, but the Sombathea team needed a victory to secure a place in the playoffs.
Dijon’s unit in subgroup C, which also featured Malaga’s Unicaya, Roland Freiman’s Nizhny Novgorod and Lavrio’s Megabolt, took second place.
Dijon’s basketball players won once with each team and once failed. In the last group tournament game, Dijon’s team gave up “Nizhny Novgorod” with the result 85:93.
The second team match will take place in Riga on January 11.
In the regular tournament, 32 teams are divided into eight subgroups of four units each. The winners of the sub-groups immediately secured a place in the second stage, where they will be joined by eight more teams, which will be determined in the “play-in” series between the second and third place teams in the group.
The team of “VEF Rīga”, which is participating in this competition for the third season, reached the second stage of the main tournament of the FIBA Champions League last season.
This season, the team led by Jānis Gailītis for the FIBA Champions League includes Artis Ate, Raivo Butirins, Ron Curry, Ilya Gromov, Maris Gulbis, Reison Hemond, Emil Krumins, Alexander Madsen, Anrijs Miška, Pēteris Pinnis, Džeilils
In May, the Spanish club Burgos “San Pablo” triumphed in the finalist tournament in Nizhny Novgorod, defending the title won last year.
In 2020/2021, the fifth season of the tournament was played. In the first three years, basketball players from Tenerife’s Lenovo, Athens AEK and Bologna’s Segafredo Virtus were crowned champions.
Others are currently reading
Asks for help to pay for stem cell transplant operation for little Ance, who has suffered severely from violence
A Russian boxer who killed a bear shows what it looks like after a tragic event
“He took me by the hair, put me down …”
.
