Author: Edvardas Chmieliauskas

Two teams appearing at the bottom of the standings faced off today and Ventspils outclassed Nevezis 70:61 on the road. Thanks to a good battle off the glass by Ventspils.

In a low-scoring game Ventspils got an early lead as Mareks Jurevicus tapped-in the ball after his own miss more than 3 minutes left to play in the first quarter (10:4). The Latvians finished this period on a high note and scored the last 4 points without an answer from Nevezis, so after this quarter they led 17:10.

Midway through the second quarter Akselis Vairogs made a lay-up and gave his team the lead in double figures for the first time this game. Nevezis still struggled to find ways of scoring against the opponents and they did not until the second half. At the halftime the score was 33:25 up by the guests.

Early in the third period Ventspils got a big 14 points lead (39:25), but later on Nevezis cut it to 7 (37:44) and it was pretty much all the hosts could do in this quarter, so the Latvians concluded having 8 points advantage (49:41).

Nevezis looked like a totally different team in the fourth quarter. They made it rain threes as Povilas Sakinis and Benas Veikalas went off to make 3 straight long-range shots without any answer from the opposition. After this show the Lithuanian team outweighed the score in their own favour - 50:49. 1 minute left in this game Bernard King made a very important jumper which gave his team 4 points lead (63:59). Nevezis could not have any answers and Ventspils celebrated their 6'th win of the season.

A.Vairogs scored 13 points for the winners, R.Zakis (8 rebs.) and J.Strelnieks added 11 apiece. V.Dabkus collected 13 for Nevezis, P.Sakinis added 11.