Rīgas Zeļļi Beat Spanish ACB Side Away in EuroCup

Latvian basketball club Rīgas Zeļļi beat Spanish side San Pablo Burgos 79:71 on Wednesday in a round-five Group A game of the EuroCup, a European club basketball competition. Burgos normally plays in Spain's ACB league, described as Europe's strongest national championship. It was Riga's third win in five tournament games.

How the game unfolded

Quarter scores were 17:21, 22:14, 23:19 and 17:17 in favour of the visitors overall. Riga opened with a 9:0 run, but the hosts fought back and led by four after the first quarter. The lead changed hands several times in the second, and after a precise long-range shot from almost the centre of the court by Ivans Tkačenko, Riga went into halftime ahead 39:35.

Early in the third quarter the visitors stretched the gap to 12 points, and they started the final quarter eight points up, holding a safe margin until the end.

Martins Varns and Tkačenko were Riga's top scorers with 15 points each. Ben Shungu added 13 points and seven assists, and Tyler Vols finished with 12. For the hosts, Denny Boy Stewart scored 18 and Joaquín Taboada 16.

Group standings

Earlier, Rīgas Zeļļi beat Italy's Derthona Tortona 86:84 and Slovenia's Olimpija Ljubljana 89:79 at home, while losing 86:87 to Germany's Rostock Seawolves and 64:100 to Hapoel Jerusalem of Israel.

In other Group A games on Wednesday, Olimpija lost 73:78 away to Aris Thessaloniki, and Hapoel won 90:83 away against France's Le Mans. Aris and Hapoel have five wins from five games, Derthona and Rīgas Zeļļi three each, Le Mans two, San Pablo and Seawolves one each, while Olimpija have lost all five.

In the main stage, 32 teams are split into four groups playing two rounds. The top four in each group qualify for the knockout phase, and group winners go straight to the second round. Rīgas Zeļļi are the first Latvian club to compete in the EuroCup since 2015.