2007-08Regular SeasonRound 10
January 22, 2008 CET: 19:00
Local time: 20:00 VENTSPILS OLYMPIC CENTER

BK Ventspils finished second in Group B by thrashing FMP 77-64 in Latvia on Tuesday. Ventspils was second in Group B with a 6-4 record and will be a 2 Seed in the ULEB Cup draw next Monday due to its tie-break advantage against the Koln 99ers, enough to have the home court advantage in the Last 32 round. Meanwhile, FMP was fifth at 3-7 and out of the elimination rounds. Kimmy Baxter paced the winners with 26 points on 4-for-5 three-pointers while Akin Akingbala added 23 points on 11-for-16 two-pointers, 13 rebounds and 7 blocks for Ventspils. Mladen Jeremic had 20 points for FMP but nobody else scored in double digits for the guests. A red hot Baxter allowed Ventspils to get a 17-7 lead early in the game. Nemanja Protic and Jeremic helped FMP to get back in the game, 23-20, but Baxter got some help from Akingbala to boost the hosts' lead to 38-25 at halftime. Once again Baxter and Akingbala fueled a 7-0 run that made it a 20-point gane, 45-25. FMP did not recover, as Ventspils cruised to a well-deserved win than opened the door to the second place in this group.

Aigars Vitols got Ventspils going with an early basket, igniting an 11-3 opening run in which Baxter had 6 points and that Helmanis capped with a triple. Jeremic answered from downtown but FMP kept struggling to score. Meanwhile, Baxter and a dominant Akingbala allowed Ventspils to boost its margin to double digits, 17-7. Protic and Dragan Labovic combined for all points in a 0-6 FMP run while a put-back basket by Ivan Zigeranovic got the guests within 19-15 after 10 minutes. Vitols followed free throws with a layup early in the second quarter but Jeremic got FMP within 23-20. Ventspils tried to get its big men Akingbala and Martin Skirmants involved. Meanwhile, a three-pointer by Baxter gave the hosts a 29-21 edge. Akingbala scored again while a red hot Baxter stroke twice from downtown for a 13-point Ventspils lead, 38-25, at halftime. Another close basket by Akingbala ignited a 7-0 run that Baxter capped with a triple to break the game open, 45-25, right after the break. Ventspils kept running its offense through Akingbala, who delivered with consecutive layups. Vitols fired in one from downtown to make it a 23-point game, 53-29. Jeremic and Protic fueled a 0-8 run that gave FMP some hope at 54-39 but Vairogs and Akingbala allowed Ventspils to make it a 20-point game, 61-41, after 30 minutes. Miroslav Raduljica had 6 points in a 0-8 run that brought FMP within 61-49. Akingbala stepped up again for the hosts while Baxter sealed the outcome, 69-49, midway through the fourth quarter. FMP did not give up but Ventspils held off a wild rally to cruised to a well-deserved win.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008
ULEBCup.com
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Referees: ZIEMBLICKI, GRZEGORZ; JASEVICIUS, TOMAS; CHEBYSHEV, SERGIY
Attendance: 1000
By Quarter1234
Ventspils19192316
FMP15101623
End of Quarter1234
Ventspils19386177
FMP15254164
Ventspils
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 VESELOVS, PAVELS 13:24 1     1/2   2 2 1   2     5 1 -3
5 VITOLS, AIGARS 21:52 9 2/5 1/1 2/2   3 3 3 2       1 1 14
7 GABRANS, RAIMONDS 31:56     0/2   2   2 6 1 2     2 2 5
8 AKINGBALA, AKIN 31:35 23 11/16   1/3 5 8 13 1 3 2 7   2 3 39
10 URAZMANOV, ARTUR 4:12   0/1 0/1             1     4   -7
11 SKIRMANTS, MARTINS 8:25 4 2/3     1 1 2     2     1 1 3
12 LOVE, JUSTIN 23:10 4 1/4 0/1 2/5 2 4 6 1 1 6     4 5  
22 BAXTER, JIMMY 25:26 26 5/8 4/5 4/6   2 2 1   1     2 3 23
30 ZAKIS, RONALDS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
32 STRELNIEKS, JANIS 3:52               1 1       1   1
33 VAIROGS, AKSELIS 9:32 5 1/2 1/1   1 2 3   1 1     1   6
35 HELMANIS, UVIS 26:36 5 0/3 1/6 2/2   3 3 2 2       2 3 5
Team                                
Totals 200:00 77 22/42 7/17 12/20 11 25 36 16 11 17 7 0 25 19 86
        52.4% 41.2% 60%
Head coach: OKORN, GASPER
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
FMP
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 JEREMIC, MLADEN 31:42 20 7/9 2/6   1 1 2     2       2 16
5 ZIVANOVIC, STEFAN 8:48 2 1/2       1 1 1   2     1    
6 DJERASIMOVIC, MARKO 24:56 3 1/5 0/1 1/2 2 1 3   2 2   4 2 1 -5
8 LABOVIC, DRAGAN 29:29 7 1/5 1/6 2/4   6 6 1 2 3   1 4 3  
9 MARKOVIC, NIKOLA 10:31 3     3/4 1 1 2             5 9
11 KRSTOVIC, BOJAN 2:31                   2         -2
12 ZIGERANOVIC, IVAN 8:58 6 2/3   2/2 2   2 1 2 1     3 1 7
13 DUVNJAK, UROS 12:03   0/1       1 1 1       1   3 3
14 PROTIC, NEMANJA 20:11 6 0/1 1/5 3/4   2 2 3 1 2   1 2 3 4
21 SAMARDZISKI, PREDRAG 22:24 4 0/2   4/8 2 5 7 1 4 5     4 4 5
25 RADULJICA, MIROSLAV 8:38 8 3/4   2/2 1 3 4 1   1     1 2 12
44 COVIC, FILIP 19:49 5 2/5   1/1   1 1           2 1 2
Team           1 3 4               4
Totals 200:00 64 17/37 4/18 18/27 10 25 35 9 11 20 0 7 19 25 55
        45.9% 22.2% 66.7%
Head coach: KLIPA, SLOBODAN

Head Coaches

OKORN, GASPER
Ventspils
"I would like to congratulate my team not only for their win tonight but also for reaching the second place in the group and thus qualifying for the next round. What can I say, the tradition of BK Ventspils reaching the second ULEB Cup round is continuing! It was our main goal in this competition. Now we have to wait for the draw and I can promise you that we will do our best to make it one step further. Speaking about this game, I have to say that we played excellent for three quarters, even 35 minutes – during this period we were better than our opponents in every element of the game. After those 35 minutes players lost concentration and FMP managed to turn the game to their side, nevertheless we closed it successfully."
KLIPA, SLOBODAN
FMP
"Congratulations to Ventspils for their win and qualifying to the next round. Ventspils showed good performance and their players simply played better this evening. One of the reasons for our loss today was that our team is very young. We will try to reach better results next season."
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