VEF Riga vs. Artland Dragons

2012-13Regular SeasonRound 5

VEF Riga 83

Artland Dragons 72

December 04, 2012 CET: 18:30

Local time: 19:30 ARENA RIGA

Kristaps Janicenoks - VEF Riga (photo VEF Riga -Mikus Klavins)

VEF Riga remained alive for a spot in the Last 16 with a convincing 83-72 victory over Artland Dragons at home in Group C on Tuesday. Kristaps Janicenoks led the way with 19 points for Riga, which improved to 2-3 with its second win over Artland. Will Daniels added 12 points, while Earl Rowland collected 12 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists and Kaspars Berzins tallied 11 points. Artland dropped to 1-4 in the group and was eliminated from the next stage despite Demond Mallet’s 15 points while Bryce Taylor had 14 points and Petar Popovic added 12 in the loss.

Artland took the lead on a triple by Taylor but Riga scored the next 9 points for a 9-3 lead. The hosts pushed the advantage out to 14-6 as both Janicenoks and Donatas Zavackas had 5 points to that point. Berzins’s free throws made it a double-digit game, 18-8, and his two-point basket increased the margin although Artland soon cut it to 27-19 after one quarter. Popovic scored three straight baskets for Artland and Johannes Strasser’s score brought the Dragons to within 31-27 in the second quarter. The deficit was still 33-29 until Rowland pushed Riga back to an eight-points difference at 37-29. Daniels scored just before the break to give Riga a 43-34 advantage going into the locker room.

Daniels scored to start the second half, too, pushing the lead back to 11 points. But the Dragons were back to within 45-42 after consecutive Riga turnovers resulted in a three-point shot by Mallet and three-point play by Taylor. Dairis Bertans answered with a triple for Riga and another Janicenoks long ball pushed the hosts back ahead by double digits, 55-44. Artland could get no closer than the rest of the third quarter that the seven-point difference that ended it, 61-54. Strasser’s three-ball got Artland back within 63-57 early in the final quarter. But Riga responded with 6 of 6 free throws to off-set a triple from Mallet. A long ball and 2 foul shots by Janicenoks increased the advantage to 76-60 with less than 5 minutes to play. Although they did cut the difference to 8 points with 23 seconds remaining, Artland ran out of time on the game and it’s chances for the Last 16. Riga will now fight next week against Le Mans for the chance to advance.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Eurocupbasketball.com

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Referees: PEREZ, MIGUEL ANGEL; LOPES, LUIS; ZASHCHUK, SERGEY

Attendance: 2000 (Tentative)

By Quarter	1	2	3	4
VEF Riga	27	16	18	22
Artland Dragons	19	15	20	18

End of Quarter	1	2	3	4
VEF Riga	27	43	61	83
Artland Dragons	19	34	54	72

VEF Riga

							Rebounds						Blocks		Fouls
#	Player	Min	Pts	2FG	3FG	FT	O	D	T	As	St	To	Fv	Ag	Cm	Rv	PIR
4	ROWLAND, EARL	29:04	12	5/8	0/2	2/2		4	4	6		3			2	4	16
9	JAHOVICS, GATIS	20:06			0/1		1	2	3		1				4	1
11	STRELNIEKS, ARTURS	8:02	6	1/3	1/1	1/2	1	1	2					2	1	1	3
12	JANICENOKS, KRISTAPS	24:18	19	3/5	3/4	4/4				2	1	1			3	4	19
13	LOUCKS, LUKE	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
14	BERZINS, KASPARS	20:53	11	4/7	0/1	3/4	2	4	6	1		2	1		3	5	14
15	DANIELS, WILL	23:24	12	5/7	0/1	2/2	1		1				1	2	3	3	9
20	BLAUS, LAURIS	7:32	1		0/1	1/2		1	1						1	1
21	KAVALIAUSKAS, ANTANAS	14:42	4	2/4			1	1	2	1		1	1	1	4	1	1
32	PASECNIKS, ANZEJS	0:57	2	1/1			1		1	1							4
41	ZAVACKAS, DONATAS	26:56	9	1/2	1/4	4/4	2	4	6	2		1	1	1	3	4	13
45	BERTANS, DAIRIS	24:06	7	1/2	1/4	2/2	1	3	4	2	1	1				3	12
	Team						2	1	3								3
	Totals	200:00	83	23/39	6/19	19/22	12	21	33	15	3	9	4	6	24	27	94
				59%	31.6%	86.4%

Head coach: BUTAUTAS, RAMUNAS

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

Artland Dragons

							Rebounds						Blocks		Fouls
#	Player	Min	Pts	2FG	3FG	FT	O	D	T	As	St	To	Fv	Ag	Cm	Rv	PIR
4	HAYNES, MARQUEZ	32:39	8	1/3	2/6	0/1	1	2	3	3		4			4	4	3
5	GOMES, RYAN	25:59	6	0/4	1/3	3/4		4	4	1		1			2	3	4
6	KING, ANTHONY	20:44	8	4/8			1	2	3	1			4	2	1	1	10
8	HOFFMANN, CHRISTIAN	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
9	STRASSER, JOHANNES	18:19	5	1/2	1/4					1		2		1	4		-5
10	NJEI, ACHA	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
13	GRUNHEID, GUIDO	14:01		0/1			2	1	3	1			2		4	2	3
20	MALLET, DEMOND	29:02	15	1/3	3/3	4/4		1	1	3		2		1	3	4	15
33	DREVO, ANDREW	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
35	KERUSCH, SERGIO	13:11	4	1/1	0/1	2/2	1	1	2		1				4	3	5
44	TAYLOR, BRYCE	26:49	14	3/4	1/3	5/5		1	1	3		2			3	4	14
55	POPOVIC, PETAR	19:16	12	6/7								2			2	3	10
	Team						2	7	9			1					8
	Totals	200:00	72	17/33	8/20	14/16	7	19	26	13	1	14	6	4	27	24	67
				51.5%	40%	87.5%

Head coach: KOCH, STEFAN

Head Coaches

BUTAUTAS, RAMUNAS

VEF Riga

“Congratulations to all our fans and supporters. This was a very important game, because now our fate is still in our hands. So it all will depend on how well we will get ready for the game in France. But first and foremost, we will think about our upcoming game. In the beginning of this game, we got a lead by playing fast basketball, while later we kept it by playing smart ball. Limiting turnovers and playing team ball was the key for us. We have a tight schedule, but we must be ready.”

KOCH, STEFAN

Artland Dragons

“First of all, congratulations to Riga, who deserved to win. Over the 40-minute period they were a better team. The first quarter was pretty decisive, where we just couldn’t find the right defensive approach. Now we are going through difficult period, because it was our third loss in a row. We haven’t been playing well. This was the first game for Ryan Gomes, so everything wasn’t in harmony as far as our offensive and defensive concepts. We have to take this loss as the end of our Eurocup season. We blew our chances in first two games at home against Riga and later in Moscow, where we lost in overtime.”

Players

JANICENOKS, KRISTAPS

VEF Riga

“I’m happy about the win. Going into this game we knew what to expect. Now we have to focus on our upcoming game this weekend and only after it we will think about the game in France.”