VALMIERA GLASS VIA and “VEF Riga” basketball players | Photo: Mārtiņš Goldbergs
On Saturday, “VEF Rīga” will play in the Latvian-Estonian Basketball League (LIBL) at its “Optibet” field with a result 85:74 defeated the team of “Valmiera Glass/Vidzeme Augstskola” (VALMIERA GLASS VIA).
Kristaps Ćilps collected 29 points, five rebounds and seven unprovoked points for Riga, Zahir Porter had 17 points, six rebounds, five assists, seven errors and six unprovoked points, Richard Daniels Vanags scored 13 points, and 11 points, 22 rebounds and eight provoked remarks collected by Arnaldo Toro Barea.
In the ranks of VALMIERA GLASS VIA, Artis Ate scored 17 points, Werner Koch scored 15, and Anivaniva Tate-Jones scored 11, who scored the fifth point at the start of the fourth quarter and ended the match early. The Vidzeme club also had to do without captains Dominik Steņon and Kristofer Karlsson in this game.
After two free throws and a long shot by Artas Ates, the Valmiers took a 5-0 lead, but the “Vefians” took the lead for the first time only at the beginning of the second quarter, when after a long shot by Zahir Porter they had made a 13-point breakthrough – 32:21.
VALMIERA GLASS VIA responded with an 8-0 breakthrough after two free throws made by Anivanivas Tate-Jones (29:32), but did not take the lead. At the beginning of the second half, Arnaldo Toro Barea achieved the biggest advantage in the game with a two-point shot – 49:35, but in the 27th minute, the Valmiera club was able to equalize the result after two accurate free throws by Rinalda Mālmanis – 55:55.
The guests failed to take the lead, and “VEF Rīga” celebrated the victory, with a score of 11-2, consolidating in third place. Valmiera’s team, with eight successes in 11 matches, is one place lower in the tournament table.
“Riga Medicines – “TalTech/Alexela”
In another game, “Rīgas Zeļļi” teams play in the sports hall with 96:65 defeated Tallinn “TalTech/Alexela” Roberts Bērziņš scored 21 points for the hosts, Franky Fidler collected 17 points and seven rebounds, Jānis Bērziņš – 12 points and five rebounds, and Jeipi Pegīs – 11 points and seven assists.
In the Tallinn team, Tāvi Jurkatamms collected 17 points and 13 rebounds, Oliver Metsalu – 16 points and five rebounds, and Sims Markus Post – 14 points and five rebounds.
“Rīgas Zeļļi” takes the second place with a record of 11-1, while the Tallinn team, with six victories in 11 matches, takes the seventh place.
“Ventspils” – “Kalev/Cramo”
In the last match of the day, “Ventspils” away with 99:92 “Kalev/Cramo” of Tallinn, represented by Anrija Miškas, won in overtime.
In a similar game, Ventspils made a 12-0 breakthrough in the middle of the third quarter, taking a 69-61 lead after a long shot by Renard Birkan, and kept the lead until the middle of the fourth quarter, when the Tallinn team responded with a 13-0 breakthrough, taking a 85-80 lead after a two-point shot by Gregor Kuba.
Ronalds Zaķis made a two-point shot 52 seconds before the end of regular time to tie the game – 87:87, and the teams played overtime. Ventspils Bryant Thomas started the overtime with two accurate two-point shots, Ventspils keeping the lead until the end of the game.
In the “Ventspils” team, Cameron Shelton collected 24 points, eight rebounds, five assists and ten unprovoked points, Artūrs Ausējs – 19 points and eight rebounds, Renārs Birkāns – 13 points and five assists, Ronald Zaķis scored 12 points, and Roberts Bērze and Bryants scored 11 points each. Thomas, who also had seven rebounds.
In the home team, Miška shared the title of the team’s top scorer with Hugo Tom with 22 points, also collecting nine rebounds. Severi Kaukiainen had 17 points, five rebounds, nine assists and five turnovers, while Gregor Kūba had 12 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
The Ventspils unit with a balance of 8-4 is fifth in the tournament table, while “Kalev/Cramo” is sixth with six wins and four losses.
