U18 VEF Riga opened its Euroleague Basketball ADIDAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT Qualifying Tournament – Kaunas with a hard-fought 49-52 win over U18 USK Future Stars Prague in Group B. Karlis Garoza collected 19 points, 13 rebounds and 2 blocks for VEF and Niks Jansons added 10 points. Toms Upe struggled from the field, hitting just 1 of 16 shots for 5 points, but he added 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 5 steals in the victory. Jakub Tuma starred for USK with 32 points, 13 rebounds and 2 steals.

Garoza opened the scoring for VEF and was matched by Jan Zidek. Garoza added 3 more points to put VEF ahead 2-7. After two minutes without a score, Tuma hit back-to-back baskets before Zdenek Blaha’s 2 free throws gave USK its first lead, 8-7. Jansons nosed VEF back ahead before USK tallied the next 6 points for a 14-9 advantage. Upe snapped a four-minute scoreless stretch for VEF with a three-pointer and the score was 14-12 after 10 minutes. Nikolajs Zotovs opened the second quarter and knotted the game again. But VEF failed to score for four minutes and Tuma scored 5 points to build a 21-14 lead. The Latvian club responded with the next 6 points before a Zidek three-pointer. But the gap was back down to 1 point – 24-23 – after Karlis Grigalunas’s basket. The scoreboard showed 26-25 at the break.

Tuma started the second half with a three and two more Tuma baskets kept USK ahead 33-29. The Czech team went cold with just 1 free throw over the next five minutes and Garoza tallied 6 points in a 1-8 spurt to make it 34-37. Tuma finally scored a basket for USK and VEF led 38-39 after 30 minutes. USK regained the lead with Tuma’s triple to start the fourth quarter and his next basket had the Czech side ahead 45-41. VEF was back in front on a Jansons three-pointer and Zotovs’s free throw made it 45-47 with three minutes to play. Tuma and Jansons swapped baskets and VEF was leading 47-51 with 38 seconds left after Upe twice split free throws. Garoza rebounded the second miss, but missed both of his free throws with 26 seconds to play. After Tuma made it a 2-point game, Zotovs split 2 free throws for a 49-52 lead and USK missed its two attempts to tie the game.