“Rīgas Zeļļi” entered the final of the “Pafbet” Latvian Basketball League (LBL) in Riga on Saturday, where “VEF Rīga” is already waiting for Riga residents. “Rīgas Zeļļi” defeated “Ventspili” 65:61 (14:18, 14:20, 16:10, 21:13) in the home game, winning the series 3-1.
For the home team, Kamaka Hepp had 19 points and ten rebounds, Jordan Hunter had 14 points and eight rebounds, Tom Skuja scored 12 points and Isaiah Osborne had 12 points and six rebounds.
For the guests, Ishmael El-Amin scored 18 points, Artūrs Ausējs collected 15 points, six rebounds and five fouls.
The visitors did better in the first half, suggesting that the visiting team will win the fourth match of the series as well. The seven-point breakthrough allowed the Ventspils team to take a 10-4 lead, increasing it to 14-6.
The home team scored the next eight points, tying the score after Skuja’s two-pointer.
Another 7-0 breakthrough at the beginning of the second quarter after Tomas Vasilijevic’s two-point shot allowed the guests to pull away to 25:16, and in the penultimate minute of the half, after two accurate free throws by Vasilijevic, to achieve the biggest advantage of the game – 38:25.
At halftime, the home team scored nine points in a row, increasing the lead of the Ventspils club, until in the 35th minute Richards Daniels Vanags made it 55:55 with a two-point shot.
In the 38th minute, with Hunter’s two-point shot, the Riga players regained the lead – 60:58 and kept it until the end of the game.
In the first semi-final match, “Rīgas Zellļi” celebrated a 100:97 away victory, but in the second match, Ventspils won 103:82 away from home. On Thursday, the guests were again successful – “Rīgas Zeļļi” won 111:81 in Ventspils.
“Ventspils” entered the elimination tournament from the semi-finals, but “Rīgas Zeļļi” beat the team of “Valmiera Glass”https://www.ventasbalss.lv/”Vidzemes Augstskola” 3-1 in the first round.
In the main tournament of the Latvian-Estonian league, both teams exchanged victories at home (89:86 in Riga and 100:92 in Ventspils).
In the second semi-final series, “VEF Rīga” beat “Liepāja” 3-0 and reached the final for the 14th time.
Last year, the basketball players of “VEF Rīga” became the champions, beating “Ventspili” 4-1 in the final, while “Liepāja” won 3-1 over “Ogri” in the fight for bronze.
