By Rigas Dardalis/ dardalis@eurohoops.net
Belgium’s win over Latvia (60-56) decided the fate of Ukraine. After this result, the first win of Belgium (1-4) in the second round, Latvia (1-4) committed suicide and missed the chance to get the last open quarterfinal spot in group E, in case of a Lithuanian win over Ukraine.
The pressure on the player of coach Bagatskis was evident by their bad three point shooting percentage, as they made only five shots in 29 attempts. Outside shooting was a strength of Latvia so far in the tournament, but this time the ball was really heavy. Sasha Massot with 14 points and a crucial dunk (59-56) after an assist from Tabu was the top scorer of the winners. Rolands Freimanis (11 p., 10 r.) was the only Latvian player who scored in double digits.
Freimanis said after the game: “A tough loss. So disappointing. We are so disappointed. Nothing to say. We could not score anything. This was our worst game in how many years, and it was our most important game. I don’t know why this happened. It’s sports”.