2012-13Regular SeasonRound 1
November 07, 2012 CET: 19:30
Local time: 19:30 ARTLAND ARENA
Dairis Bertans - VEF Riga (photo VEF Riga)VEF Riga opened its Eurocup campaign with an impressive 72-82 road win at Artland Dragons. Riga started the game with a 2-9 rush and remained in control for the majority of the 40 minutes. Artland rallied to take a 26-24 lead midway through the second quarter, but Riga regained a 32-37 edge by halftime. The lead reached 14 in the second half. Anthony King helped the Dragons challenge down the stretch and the difference was cut to 5 in the final minute, but Riga remained calm and closed out the win. Anatas Kavaliauskas and Dairis Bertans scored 18 points apiece for the victors. Kristaps Janicenoks added 15 points and 5 assists and E.J. Rowland netted 10 for Riga. King paced Artland with 16 points and 7 rebounds, Dennis Horner added 13 points, Kristaps Valters 12 and Marquez Haynes 11 in defeat.

Kavaliauskas opened the scoring before Horner matched him. The visitors grabbed control as Kavaliauskas scored inside before a Janicenoks triple made it 2-9. Haynes scored the next 4 points as Artland made sure to keep things close. However the Riga defense forced a series of turnovers and Will Daniels’s layup made it 8-15. Valters brought the Dragons within 3, however a triple by Bertans and an Rowland score put the visitors ahead 14-22 after 10 minutes. Artland stormed back with a 10-0 run early in the second quarter capped by a Bryce Taylor triple for a 26-24 lead. However Janicenoks scored the next two baskets as Riga regained control. The back-and-forth battle continued as Valters tied the score with a steal and layup and then the lead exchanged hands on three straight possessions before Kaspars Berzins free throws and a Basket by Daniels left Riga ahead 32-37 at halftime.

Horner whipped a pass to Petar Popovic for a slam that narrowed the gap to 36-39. It was Popovic down low again as the hosts climbed within 41-43. Riga pulled away again with 9 straight points – the last 3 coming on a Bertans three-pointer – to take its first double-digit lead. King took over as Artland’s scoring man, but another Bertans triple made it 43-55. King continued to match points with the visitors, but Bertans’s fourth three of the game lifted his team’s advantage to 47-61. Haynes closed the difference to 51-63 through three quarters. Taylor netted a three to close to 54-65 early in the fourth quarter, but Donatas Zavackas countered with a triple. Artland continued to fight back and Horner’s first three of the night made it 60-68. King drew the Dragons within 7 three times in the closing minutes and Valters made it 69-74 with 55 seconds to go. But Rowland and later Bertans each made 2 free throws for Riga to help ice the win.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Eurocupbasketball.com
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Referees: MATTIOLI, GIANLUCA; ARAÑA, FRANCISCO; VOVK, TOMISLAV
Attendance: 1321 (Tentative)
By Quarter1234
Artland Dragons14181921
VEF Riga22152619
End of Quarter1234
Artland Dragons14325172
VEF Riga22376382
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 30:12 11 3/6 0/2 5/6   4 4 3   4     3 5 10
6 KING, ANTHONY 21:49 16 4/7   8/10 6 1 7 1   1     3 6 21
8 HOFFMANN, CHRISTIAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
9 STRASSER, JOHANNES 23:38   0/2 0/4   1 1 2 1       1 1   -5
10 NJEI, ACHA 1:52   0/1                         -1
11 VALTERS, KRISTAPS 26:11 12 3/7 2/4   1 1 2 4 2 4     3 3 10
12 SPOLER, BEN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
13 GRUNHEID, GUIDO 18:16   0/1     1   1 2 2 2       3 5
31 HORNER, DENNIS 25:57 13 5/7 1/1 0/2 2 2 4 1 1 2     2 2 13
35 KERUSCH, SERGIO 11:11 3 1/1 0/1 1/2   3 3     1     3 1 1
44 TAYLOR, BRYCE 26:56 10 0/4 2/5 4/4   1 1   1 1   1 4 3 2
55 POPOVIC, PETAR 13:58 7 3/6   1/2 1 2 3 1         2 2 7
Team           1 2 3               3
Totals 200:00 72 19/42 5/17 19/26 13 17 30 13 6 15 0 2 21 25 66
        45.2% 29.4% 73.1%
Head coach: KOCH, STEFAN
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
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 31:16 10 3/5 0/1 4/6   4 4 3 1 3     3 4 11
9 JAHOVICS, GATIS 18:34   0/1     1 1 2 2   1     2 4 4
12 JANICENOKS, KRISTAPS 32:38 15 5/8 1/4 2/2   2 2 5   2     2 4 16
13 LOUCKS, LUKE DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
14 BERZINS, KASPARS 24:45 8 3/4 0/1 2/2 1 2 3 3 2 2 1   5 3 11
15 DANIELS, WILL 16:46 8 3/3 0/1 2/2       1 1 3     4 2 4
20 BLAUS, LAURIS 4:24                   1 1   2   -2
21 KAVALIAUSKAS, ANTANAS 20:19 18 9/12   0/2 1 1 2 1 1 1     4 1 13
41 ZAVACKAS, DONATAS 29:46 5 1/2 1/2   1 6 7 1 1       1 1 12
45 BERTANS, DAIRIS 21:32 18 2/3 4/7 2/2   1 1 1   3     2 2 13
Team           2 4 6     1         5
Totals 200:00 82 26/38 6/16 12/16 6 21 27 17 6 17 2 0 25 21 87
        68.4% 37.5% 75%
Head coach: BUTAUTAS, RAMUNAS

Head Coaches

KOCH, STEFAN
Artland Dragons
"Riga deserved the win. Today it was all about the details, the little things. We made more mistakes than Riga, who played solid. On offense and defense, they executed those things better, which was important to them. They had less mental timeouts. We have a problem with paying attention and focus. Regarding the presidential election in the USA, I want to change a quote from a former president a little bit. The players shouldn't ask what the team can do for them, they should ask what they can do for the team."
BUTAUTAS, RAMUNAS
VEF Riga
"Artland is a tough German team, not a fresh team in the Eurocup. We knew it would be tough and it was. We started well, but lost our way. In the second half we took back control of the game and kept it until the end."

Players

KING, ANTHONY
Artland Dragons
"We have to understand that in order to win against these top teams we have to do the little things. There were some 50-50 balls, some executions we didn't get done. They did the little things better than us."
ROWLAND, EARL
VEF Riga
"It was a tough game. Everyone wants to have a good start in the Eurocup. It was ugly, both teams were fighting hard. We had some guys with some big plays. For me personally, it felt good to come back to Quakenbrück. I still know some people from the town, I have some good memories, we won the cup here. And the Quakenbrück fans are always special. But still, I wanted to win."
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