<p>Vantspils delighted their home fans with a spectacular win against Lietuvos Rytas 77:75 and got 5th victory in Division I.</p><p /><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">The first quarter was characteristic with often lead changes and great basketball. Although home team Ventspils swiftly dashed forward in the lead of <place w:st="on">Shannon</place> (3^rd minute 7:2), their initial enthusiasm was soon quelled by the great coordination of Lietuvos Rytas defensive efforts. After a jump shot by the Latvian player Blums, the guests got in the front (12:13). Even though their offensive screens looked far more organized and prepared than for their Latvian rivals, the Lietuvos Rytas machinery slowed down in the last minutes of the quarter. This allowed Jelic to push his team upwards at end of the first quarter (21:16).</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><p> </p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">As it was typical for this contest, the guest team evened the score in the 4^th minute of the second quarter (25:25). Love and Lukauskis involved in a merciless exchange of points. According to the tense atmosphere of this match-up, the teams pursued to barter the baskets equally (8^th minute 30:30). The sudden opening of the Vaikulis’ potential at the Ventspils side was rapidly neutralized by successful actions by Nielsen. End of the first half – 37:38.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><p> </p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">The third quarter was Lietuvos Rytas’ part of the game. They succeeded in realizing their plans both at the defensive and offensive end; this gave immediate crops. Koljevic was precise from different positions, giving his team the first notable lead (43:48). Although Ventspils used different tactical schemes to catch up with guests, Lietuvos Rytas still managed to remain about five ahead. However, because of the nice offense from Vaikulis and Helmanis at the last two minutes of this quartile of the game, the difference in the score after the third quarter was practically negligible (53:55).</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><p> </p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Nielsen and Blums quickly revived Lietuvos Rytas offense at the beginning of the last quarter. Soon, the Ventspils fans started to show gloomy faces for the situation on the scoreboard (5^th minute - 61:68). This, however, was the start of The Great Comeback. Somehow Ventspils game started to flow much more smoothly; in addition, <place w:st="on">Shannon</place> was close to unstoppable. Few great defensive stops compounded with luck in offense, and Ventspils squad is back in the game (70:72). In the last two minutes of the game, the teams competed in a severe free-throw contest. Once again, Ventspils were more successful and celebrated a huge upset victory 77:75.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><p> </p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">The key factor in this game was 3-point shooting. Ventspils 46.2% from behind the arc is a good place to start for a good team.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><p> </p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Top Scorers:</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Ventspils: <a href="/index.php/ZnVzZWFjdGlvbj1wbGF5ZXJzLm1haW4mdD01OCZwPTY3Mg==">Eddie Shannon (15)</a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Lietuvos Rytas: <a href="/index.php/ZnVzZWFjdGlvbj1wbGF5ZXJzLm1haW4mdD00NSZwPTU4Ng==">Mathew Nielsen (20)</a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><p> </p></p><p />

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Teams: Lietuvos Rytas
Teams: Ventspils
Games: 2007-03-17 Ventspils - Lietuvos Rytas