At the Pafbet Latvian-Estonian League Championship on Saturday, October 24, BC “Ogre” convincingly beat BC “Liepāja” – 94:77. At 5 pm BC “Ventspils” – “Valmiera Glass VIA” (Best4sport TV), at 7 pm “VEF Rīga” – “University of Latvia” (YouTube). Until December 6, the teams will play only within their country, the Latvian teams will play the first games of the second round on October 30 and 31. Live statistics: https://www.estlatbl.com/lv. Participants urge viewers to unconditionally abide by the restrictions imposed by the pandemic.
BC “Ogre” (3-2) – BC “Liepāja” (2-3) 94:77 (23:19, 45:38, 73:60)
The victory secured the Ogre team the third place in the Latvian team mini-tournament.
The team from Liepaja started the game a little better (13:17 – in the 7th minute), but in the future “Ogre” was more organized and stable, achieving a comfortable advantage and protecting it in the next match without any special problems. For the time being, the talent of “Liepāja” players in the attack is only episodic – it cannot compensate for what was not done in defense and fighting in the baskets.
Throughout the game, “Ogrei” has a huge advantage in the fight at the baskets (rebounds 49-32, points from the penalty area 42-26) and a greater gain from afar (3p. 11/34 – 6/22).
“Ogrei” Uģis Pinete scored 19 points, Kaspars Bērziņš 18 (9 atlases), André Vokers 14.
Renārs Birkāns scored 15 points for “Liepāja”, Iļja Gromovs 14, Guntis Sīpoliņš 13 + 10 atl.
5 pm BC “Ventspils” (3-1) – “Valmiera Glass VIA” (1-3): Best4sport TV
Both teams had painful failures in the previous round. Which will be recovered?
Ventspils have started better than expected, and after three victories it was not far from the fourth success in the game with “VEF Rīga” (93:96). An excellent start to the season for the team captain Māris Gulbis – an average of 31.8 points and 6.8 rebounds in four games. The leaders are well supported by Artūrs Ausējs (16.8 and 5.5 assists). Risk factor – narrow rotation. So far, the best game episodes have been played for seven players.
The people of Valmiera were close to the second victory a week ago, gaining a 10-point advantage over BC “Liepāja” six minutes before the end. But the second before the end signal was already minus 5 – such instability together with the limited number of players promises unpredictable plot changes in the future. The main winner has enough power and skill to cause problems for almost any opposing team, but the contribution of the reservists will also be important to win. Edmunds Elksnis has become a stable leader (21.3 points and 10 assists). Valters Vēveris scored an average of 13.5 points in the game, Klāvs Dubults 11.8, Ervīns Jonāts 10.3.
7 pm “VEF Rīga” (4-0) – “University of Latvia” (0-4): Pafbet LAT-EST YouTube
The last “attempt” for the leaders before the start in the Champions League.
The “VEF Rīga” team has confirmed the status of national champions, winning the first four games. However, the success against Ventspils turned out to be unconvincing (96:93), earning the public indignation of head coach Jānis Gailītis about the quality of the game. So far, the most stable were Aigars Šķēle (on average 15.8 points), Kails Allmans (15) and Michael Kaisers (12.8).
“University of Latvia” was able to win in at least two games out of four, confirming that it is playing better than the table shows. The first victory will come, but the champions are less likely to win than other opponents. The most successful individuals so far have been Kārlis Žunda (12.3), Nikolajs Zotovs (12) and Anrijs Miška (10.5).
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In order to strengthen epidemiological safety measures, the Board of LBS has supplemented the “Procedure for Implementation of Epidemiological Safety Measures to Limit the Spread of Covid-19 Infection in Basketball Competitions Organized by the Latvian Basketball Union”, which has been in force since September 18, 2020:
* From 23 October, the staff of the Gaming Secretariat must wear mouth and nose masks (medical, non-medical or hygienic masks or visors and face shields).
* Starting from October 23, entertainment performances involving more than one person are prohibited during the games.
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On Wednesday, October 21, the first game of Pafbet in the Latvian-Estonian league was played by the best Estonian team in Tallinn “Kalev / Cramo”, beating “Kalev / TLU” with 98:88. Jānis Kaufmanis scored 6 points for the winners coached by Robert Štelmaher. At the end of the week, three games will take place in Estonia: on Saturday AVIS Utilitas Rapla – Kalev / TLU and Taltech – Tartu Ulikool, on Sunday Parnu Sadam – Rakvere Tarvas,
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