FIBA Europe Cup: Pärnu Lose to Szczecin, Bagatskis' Benfica Win
In the first round of the FIBA Europe Cup group stage, a fourth-tier European club basketball competition, Estonia's Pärnu, with Latvians in the squad, lost to Poland's Wilki Morskie Szczecin. Benfica of Lisbon, coached by Ainars Bagatskis, beat Absheron Lions of Baku.
Estonian club Pärnu finished the first round of the FIBA Europe Cup group stage, the fourth-highest tier of European club basketball, with a 69:82 loss to Polish side Wilki Morskie Szczecin. Latvians Klāvs Dubults and Renārs Birkāns play for Pärnu. After five games the Estonian team has four defeats and one win, placing fifth in Group D. Szczecin lead the group with a 4-1 record.
How the game went
Pärnu started promisingly and led 35:30 at halftime. In the third quarter the visitors went on a ten-point run, and the game turned. Tomasz Gielo was Szczecin's top scorer with 18 points.
Dubults scored 15 points in 22 minutes, hitting 4 of 5 two-pointers, 1 of 3 three-pointers and 4 of 6 free throws. He also had six rebounds, two turnovers, two steals, one assist and one block, with a plus/minus of -6. Birkāns played just under 25 minutes and made one of three two-point attempts. He added five assists, two fouls and two turnovers, and his efficiency rating was -16.
Other results
Benfica of Lisbon, coached by Latvian Ainars Bagatskis, defeated Absheron Lions of Baku 97:76. The Portuguese club has four wins and one loss and is second in Group H behind Mykonos, who have won all five games.
Tallinn's Kalev, who share a group with Latvia's Valmiera Glass ViA, recovered from a poor first quarter (9:20) to beat Élan Chalon 74:68 in France. Hugo Toms scored 19 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. In Group F, Valmiera are fourth with a 2-3 record.
