VEF Rīga and Rīgas Zeļļi play away in European cup games on Tuesday
Latvian basketball clubs VEF Rīga and Rīgas Zeļļi both play away in their European competitions on 21 October. VEF Rīga face Romania's Oradea, while Zeļļi meet Israel's Hapoel Jerusalem in Belgrade.
Latvian basketball clubs VEF Rīga and Rīgas Zeļļi play away games in European club competitions on 21 October. Both teams are in the upper part of their group tables and have a chance to add to their win totals.
VEF Rīga in the FIBA Europe Cup
In the third game of Group H of the FIBA Europe Cup, a European club basketball tournament, VEF Rīga face Romania's Oradea. The game starts at 19:00 and is broadcast live by SWH TV. Before tip-off, the club's sports director Artūrs Šēnhofs will be a guest in the studio.
The Riga side opened the season with two wins: 106:83 at home over Plovdiv's Lokomotiv and 110:94 away against Azerbaijan's Neftchi. VEF Rīga's combined point difference of +39 is the best in the group in that measure. They sit second in the table behind Greece's Mykonos, who have three wins.
Oradea have a 1-1 record: they beat Switzerland's Fribourg 93:67 at home but lost 69:79 away to Lokomotiv. In the Romanian league the team stands at 2-1, while VEF Rīga have not lost in six games in the Latvian-Estonian league.
Oradea's top scorer is American point guard David Christopher Nichols. In three league games he averages 17 points and 5.3 assists, and in the European cup nine points, seven assists and 5.5 rebounds. VEF Rīga's leader is Jordan Sears with 24 points per game, while Aigars Šķēle, with 20 assists in two games, is the team's best passer.
Rīgas Zeļļi in the BKT EuroCup
At 21:00 Latvian time, Rīgas Zeļļi face Israel's Hapoel Jerusalem in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, in Group A of the BKT EuroCup, Europe's second-tier club tournament. TV6 broadcasts the game live.
The team, coached by Rok Kondratavič, have won two of three games: Derthona (86:85) and Ljubljana's Cedevita Olimpija (89:79) were beaten, while the game against Rostock Seawolves ended in an 86:87 loss. Zeļļi are third in the table. Hapoel have not yet lost, with wins over Seawolves, Cedevita Olimpija and Burgos's San Pablo, and lead the group.
Hapoel's top scorer is Kevin Lofton, who has 45 NBA games of experience, averaging 20.3 points and 7.7 rebounds. Zeļļi's leading scorer is Tony Perkins with 19 points per game, followed by Martin Varn with 17.
