VEF Riga Open FIBA Europe Cup With Big Win, Valmiera Lose on Last-Second Shot
Basketball club VEF Riga beat Bulgaria's Lokomotiv 106:83 at home in their FIBA Europe Cup opener. Valmiera Glass/Vidzemes Augstskola lost 77:79 away to Kosovo's Bashkimi.
Latvian basketball club VEF Riga won their first game of the FIBA Europe Cup regular phase on Wednesday, beating Lokomotiv of Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 106:83 (27:27, 26:14, 28:17, 25:25) at home.
The Riga side's performance
Jordan Sears led the hosts with 30 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Aigars Šķēle recorded 12 points, seven rebounds and 12 assists, Luis Rodriguez scored 20 points and grabbed ten rebounds, Ojārs Siliņš added 16 points, and Marek Mejeris contributed ten.
For the visitors, Deverell Ramsey had 21 points and nine assists, Jomaru Brown scored 18, and Tomislav Minkov had 15.
The visitors quickly built a seven-point lead early on, but the Riga team recovered, mainly thanks to Sears and Šķēle, and led 53:41 at halftime. In the second half the hosts extended their advantage and secured a comfortable win. In Group H, VEF Riga will also face Mykonos of Greece, Fribourg of Switzerland, Oradea of Romania and Neftchi of Baku, Azerbaijan.
Valmiera's setback
Valmiera Glass/Vidzemes Augstskola lost their opening game away to Kosovo's Bashkimi 77:79 (24:27, 16:13, 19:24, 18:15), with the decisive basket coming in the final second.
Bryce McBride scored 25 points with four rebounds and six assists for Valmiera. Aminu Muhammed had 16 points, 15 rebounds and four assists, Verners Kohs added 11 points and five assists, and Deren Williams had ten points, four rebounds and five assists.
The winners' top scorer was Dwayne Miles with 21 points. His rebound shot in the final second made it 79:77 and denied Valmiera overtime. In Group F, Valmiera will also face Tallinn's BigBank/Kalev, Manchester of Britain, France's Elan Chalon and Turkey's Korfez.
Tournament format
The regular phase features 48 teams in eight groups, playing two rounds. The top two from each group advance to the second round, where 16 teams will be split into four groups, with the top two from each reaching the quarterfinals. Knockout ties are decided over two legs on aggregate. Last season's FIBA Europe Cup winner was Spain's Bilbao.
