Jakarta –
Latvia beat success Spanish 74-69 in the second round of Group L FIBA World Cup 2023. Coach Luca Banchi is proud of the efforts of Davis Bertans et al to suppress the world champion.
Compete in the Indonesia Arena, Jakarta, Friday (1/9), Latvia struggled to overcome Spain. After narrowly winning 17-16 in the first quarter, they then fell behind in the next two quarters.
Spain even had a 12-point lead over Latvia in the middle of the third quarter, before closing it with a score of 58-47. The defending champion looked like he would ‘win easily’, but who would have thought, Latvia was able to turn things around in the final quarter.
From being initially behind by 11 points, Latvia then caught up and equalized to 61-61. From here, they took control and eventually turned ahead 68-65, and eventually won 74-69.
Total Latvia scored 27 points compared to 11 belonging to Spain. This unyielding hard work made Latvia satisfied after winning.
“Great win. A special night, gave us good memories, but now is the time to start from zero and focus on the next game,” said Banchi in a post-match press conference.
“About the last 40 minutes, what an effort. I’m proud of the way we stayed focused throughout the match, although there were a few moments when we were unstable as a team in the third quarter, but overall it was a tight game.”
“If you see there were 14 changes of lead throughout the match, so there was great intensity, to see the players fighting and playing against very strong teams, world champions, European champions makes me very proud,” he explained.
Latvia will next face Brazil on Sunday (3/9). Only a win could earn them a spot in the quarter-finals.
(adp/then)
2023-09-01 17:56:03
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