By Aris Barkas / barkas@eurohoops.net
Latvia clinches the win, 73-66, against Slovenia in the opening game of the Round of 16 in Lille. The victors, now playing without the home court advantage, had two wins and two losses in the group stage before defeating Estonia to ensure a spot in the next round. Despite losing to Greece and Croatia, Slovenia managed to get through with three wins of their own, the last one against FYROM.
Right from the outset, the game was tight. Janis Strelnieks drilled in a three-pointer to tie the game 20-20 for the Baltic nation at the end of the first quarter. At the end of another close quarter, another Janis – Blums – pretty much did the same thing, this time with a 2-point jumper, to give Bagatskis’s team the lead (42-40) once again before the half time break. As the game resumed, the Latvians were able to maintain and extend their advantage right through the third and fourth periods to get the win.
Strelnieks was the top scorer of his team, racking up 17 points, collecting 6 rebounds and dishing 8 assists. Kaspars Berzins – who was practicing with his wrist in a wrap yesterday – had a solid game with 13 points, 6 boards and 3 assists. Mareks Mejeris (3 rebounds), Rolands Freimanis (4 rebounds), Dairis Bertans (2 rebounds, 4 assists) and Kristaps Janicenoks (2 rebounds, 2 assists) with some useful threes, all shared 8 points each.
“God bless Latvia,” Freimanis said after the game. “This was one of the biggest victories for the country. This is the result of the last five years. Last year we fell short and this year we showed our character and fought our butts off. We played one of the best defenses of our tournament. But nothing is done yet. We will rest and see what happens.”
For Zdovc’s team, Zoran Dragic (1 rebound, 1 assist) scored the most with 17. Jure Balazic got 9 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, Jaka Blazic contributed 8 points, 5 boards and 2 assists, and Klemen Prepelic (7 rebounds, 5 assists) and Alen Omic (4 rebounds) added another 7 points each.
“Latvia were a better team tonight,” Zdovc commented. “They played stronger and faster and we couldn’t find a rhythm to break them. We were tight almost the whole game. When the game was being decided we missed some baskets. They were the better team. For a moment I felt they wanted it more than us. Maybe that was the difference.”
