Greg Whittington and Sean “PJ” Pipes | Photo: Mārtiņš Goldbergs/VEF Riga
Last season's Latvian champion “VEF Rīga” on Thursday in the “Pafbet” Latvian Basketball League (LBL) in the first game of the semi-final, “Liepāju” won at home with the result 77:56. In the series up to three victories, the people of Riga have taken the lead with 1-0.
In the “VEF Riga” team, Gregory Whittington was the top scorer with 15 points, Robert Bloom had 14 points and eight rebounds, Arnaldo Toro Barea scored 13 points and had ten rebounds, Sean Pipes also had 13 points, who also gave seven assists, but Dairis Bertāns scored 11 points. For Liepaja, Kristaps Ćilps scored 22 points and won nine rebounds.
The semi-final series goes up to three wins by one team. The next match will take place in Liepāja on April 28, and both teams will return to Riga on May 1, but if more than three matches are needed in the series, the match will be played again in Liepaja on May 3 and in Riga on May 5.
“VEF Rīga” basketball players finished the main tournament of “Pafbet” Latvian-Estonian Basketball League (LIBL) in third place with 24 wins in 30 games, beat “Rīgas Zeļlius” 2-0 in the quarter-finals, but lost “Prometey” 0-2 in the semi-finals. On the other hand, in the battle for the bronze medal of the combined league, the people of Riga beat “Ventspili” with 84:76. Meanwhile, “Liepāja” accumulated a balance of 11-19 in the LIBL regular championship and ranked 11th, without entering the playoffs.
This season, the two teams have met twice, with “Vefians” winning both times (85:78 and 86:76). While “VEF Rīga” enters the fight for the Latvian championship title from the semi-finals, the Liepāja team beat “Ogri” 3-2 in the quarter-finals, winning the decisive match only in extra time. In the second semi-final, in which the first match will be played on Friday, “Ventspils” and “Rīgas Zeļļi” will meet.
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.