Greg Whittington and Sean “PJ” Pipes | Photo: Mikus Kļaviņš
Today in Riga, the fifth match of the final series of the “Pafbet” Latvian Basketball League (LBL) will take place, in which “VEF Rīga” will host “Rīgas Zeļlius”, securing the Latvian championship title to the home team in case of victory. The match at the “Rimi” Olympic Center will start at 8 p.m., with live broadcast on the LTV7 TV channel.
In the first game as the home team, “VEF Rīga” won with 81:78, but in the second match, the “Vefians” were better than the visitors with 82:66. In the third match, “Rīgas Zeļļi” won as a guest (70:64), but in the fourth match, “VEF Rīga” was superior with 90:79, reaching 3-1 in the series up to four victories.
If necessary, in the continuation of the series, the matches will be held on May 24 and 26. The last time two Riga teams fought for the title was in 2010, when “Barons” beat “VEF Rīga” 4-3. This is the 14th final in a row for the “VEF Riga” team. “Ventspils” team has been the opponent 11 times (balance 9-2), but “Vefians” have conceded to other opponents in seven-game series so far (in 2010 – “Barons”, in 2016 – “Valmiera”/ORDO).
“Rīgas Zellļi” have already reached the finals in their first season. Previously, Artūrs Strēlnieks and Mārtiņš Meier have had the experience of six final series in other teams, and they have two and one championship titles, respectively. This season, in the main tournament of the Latvian-Estonian league, the teams won one victory each in mutual matches (“Zeļļi” on December 27 – with 93:86, “VEF Rīga” on February 14 – with 98:77), but in the quarter-finals “VEF Rīga” won both matches – 87:72 and 94:87. Also, “VEF Rīga” won the final game of the Latvian basketball “Užava” Cup (94:69).
“VEF Rīga” was free from the quarter-finals, but in the semi-final series they beat “Liepāja” 3-0. On the other hand, “Rīgas Zeļļi” first beat the “Valmiera Glass”/”Vidzemes Augstskola” team with 3-1 and then beat “Ventspili” with the same result.
Bronze medals were won by “Ventspils”, which beat “Liepāja” at home with 101:76, away with 83:76 and at home with 88:77, celebrating a 3-0 victory in the series up to three victories. Last year, the basketball players of “VEF Rīga” became the champions, beating “Ventspili” 4-1 in the final, while “Liepāja” won 3-1 over “Ogri” in the fight for bronze.
The fifth game of the LBL final series tomorrow night! ⚫️⚪️🏀
See you in Rimi OC at 20.00! ✌🏻
🎫 Tickets:
For our victory! 🔒 pic.twitter.com/rso4m0yeCH
— VEF Riga (@vefriga) May 21, 2024
2024-05-22 06:25:53
#VEF #Rīga #aims #Latvian #club #LBL #titles
