The Latvian men’s basketball national team in Sarajevo on Sunday with a result of 73:79 (17:20, 11:20, 17:20, 28:19) conceded to the home team of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which qualified for the 2022 European Championship.
Rihards Lomažs scored 19 points, Aigars Šķēle scored 19 points for the Latvian national team, and Mārtiņš Meiers scored 15 points and nine rebounds. Edin Attic and Kenan Kamenyas scored 19 points for the Bosnia and Herzegovina team.
The Latvian national team was defeated in this match by a fight for rebounds. The Bosnia and Herzegovina team won 18 rebounds in the attack, with repeated attack opportunities, but 28 in the defense. In Latvia, only eight rebounds in the attack and 25 in the defense.
The Latvian national team has won only one victory after four games of the 2022 European Championship selection tournament, but Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Greece, which defeated the Bulgarian national team in the first game of the day, have secured a place in the main tournament with three successes.
Bulgarian basketball players who won the first mutual game with the Latvian national team also have one victory in four games. The next meeting of the two teams in February will determine which unit will leave the subgroup as the third place winner.
The portal “Delfi” offered a live broadcast of the game text, where you can read a detailed description of the match events.
EC selection in basketball: Latvia – Bosnia and Herzegovina
Latvia – Bosnia and Herzegovina 73:79. Game over. The slice threw both free throws. But the fight for victory failed. Bosnia and Herzegovina qualifies for the European Championship. Latvia continues to fight for the final tournament.
Latvia made a mistake in the next attack. Then managed to intercept the ball, but Zorika blocked the shot. The lot from the bottom of the basket did not hit the basket, which he had experienced a lot. Mejeris intercepted the ball, passed Lomažam, who did not hit a long shot. Meyer himself collected the ball and earned penalty shots. He missed both.
71: 79Skele threw a free throw, but the Bosnians played their attack to a free Camenias shot from close range. 62 seconds until the end of the game.
70: 77Zorik didn’t hit an important long shot, but later Meiers scored with a free throw. Later, Meiers won Latvia’s first rebound in the attack and scored two more points. Bosnia also scored points in the repeated attack. One and a half minutes until the end of the game.
67: 73 Attic threw a difficult shot from close range, Lomažs quickly threw a three-pointer. However, Lazich threw free throws at the Bosnians.
64: 69Laks was left free, received a pass from Lomaža and reduced the deficit to five points.
61: 69Bosnia and Herzegovina reached the norm of remarks. Lomažs threw both “penalties”, but Robertson punished passive defense with a long shot. Lomažs also threw a long shot in a quick attack
56: 66Mayer this time grabbed Slice’s pass and broke out with a “Slam dunk.” The Bosnians regained two points in the next attack, but then 24 seconds was not enough for Latvia to attack. Luckily, the opponents also made a mistake.
54: 64The slice threw a long shot after the Bosnians scored from the bottom of the basket. Then, in the attack after the intercepted ball, Šķēle dropped the ball to Mejer, who shook the basket and earned a free kick, but did not throw it.
49: 62 The bullet was thrown from the bottom of the basket, but in interception he intercepted the pass. In the next attack, Mejeris scored a point, but the breakthrough was stopped by Attic, who had an easy pass.
45:60. The 3rd quarter is over.
45: 60Meanwhile, Bosnia and Herzegovina had already gained an 18-point lead when Attic threw a long shot. Zoriks threw one of the two free throws in the next Latvian attack, later he passed to Mejer, who hit the ball in the basket.
42: 57The Latvian team continued to fail in the attack. With a free throw, the Bosnians came to another point. Then Ate threw a half-shot, followed by one hit shot by Lazič. Freimanis did not hit the corner from the corner.
40: 55Again, Latvia did not catch the rebound in the attack, the Bosnians fired a long shot in a repeated attack. In the next attack, another long shot to the home of the “bubble” …
40: 49Salemanovich hit the ball in the basket from above, but Latvia put Meier in an excellent position with a good combination, and he easily threw the ball into the basket. Lomažis reduced the deficit to nine points with free throws.
36: 47The slice went back to the basket and threw it accurately, a moment later Laksa threw a half-shot. Attic responded with a difficult pass, but Latvia’s attack ended in a mistake.
32: 45 Latvia scored the first points in the quick attack when Šķēle closed the attack. Naturalized Bosnian Robertson responded with a long shot, but a moment later the Bosnia and Herzegovina team continued to manage under the baskets, winning another rebound in the attack. For a while, the Bosnians already gained a 15-point lead, but Meiers quickly scored points for Latvia.
The 2nd half has started.
The most productive player in the Latvian national team in the first half was Mārtiņš Meiers, who scored eight points. Seven points for Rihards Lomažas, but six points added by Aigars Šķēle.
Latvia – Bosnia and Herzegovina 28:40. The 1st half is over. Attic earned free throws again, realizing both. It started the Bosnian breakthrough, in which they gained a 12-point lead.
28: 30A well-played attack for Latvia, which Meiers concluded with an accurate throw. One minute break for Bosnians.
26: 30 Latvia continued to fail in the attack, but it was difficult to defend against the long Bosnian players. Attic made free throws, but Meiers scored from the bottom of the basket after Zorika passed. The Latvian national team cannot complain about the lack of opportunities in the attack, however, mistakes and failures did not allow to regain the rhythm. A moment later, Zoriks burned with a long-range deficit.
21:26Kamenjass scored the ball at the bottom of the basket and scored easily. Stelmacher requested a minute’s break.
21:24 The cooperation between Meyer and Meyer in the attack was unsuccessful, and the next attack ended without scoring. Latvia’s long players continued to block throws, but the start of the attacks after good episodes in the defense limped. As a result, the Bosnians regained the right to attack, Attic entered the penalty line, but missed both. Gegičs bounced the ball and put the ball in the basket.
21:22 Milosevic hit a half-shot, earned a penalty shot, but did not take it. Latvia did not collect the rebound in the defense again, but managed to protect its basket. Then Šķēle scored points again in the passage.
19:20 The master broke out with two blocked shots in a row, but a pass error prevented the start of the attack. Latvia did not succeed in this match with long shots, realizing two of the first ten. A quarter continued with the defects in the attack.
19:20 Before the start of the second quarter, Lomažs threw one free throw, punishing the Bosnians for a technical remark. Lomažs was then unduly delayed in the passage, and he re-entered the penalty line, hitting one of the two.
The head coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team earned a technical note at the end of the quarter.
17:20. The 1st quarter is over. Meiers blocked the shot, Ate got the ball and provoked a foul. The home team reached the norm of remarks, which allowed Atem to throw free throws. He hit one of the two. Then the Bosnians foolishly broke the rules against Meier, but the center player missed both free throws. The Bosnians had a chance to score, but they did not use their chance.
16:20 Attic crossed the field and made an accurate long shot, giving the Bosnia and Herzegovina team a six-point lead. Later, Lomažs arranged a free half-shot with a drift, which he realized.
14: 17Lomažs hit a three-point shot after a minute’s break, but then in the defense Chavars blocked the opponent’s basketball player. Bosnian basketball player Penava scored two points with free throws.
11: 15The Bosnians equalized the result in the continuation of the match (9: 9), however, in the next attack of Latvia, Skele beautifully scored points in the pass. Then Latvia “fell” into protection and allowed two long shots in a row.
9: 5 The Bosnians put a lot of pressure on the bottom of the basket, but it didn’t work for them in the first three minutes of the game. Meiers, who was accurate from a close distance, scored four points in a row for Latvia. Opponents noticed the response with a long shot.
5: 2The game started with unsuccessful attacks of both teams, but then in a half-fast attack Laksa took a long shot. In their third attack, the Bosnians scored at two points, but immediately Šķēle responded with a beautiful pass.
The game has started!
Basketbols svētdien 22:00 ir bīstams darba nedēļas sākumam. 🇱🇻
— Artis Ābele (@A3tris) November 29, 2020
The starting team of the Latvian national team: Kristers Zoriks, Aigars Šķēle, Mārtiņš Laksa. Mareks Mejeris, Mārtiņš Meiers. So no change.
Aiziet, Latvija! 🇱🇻 #TrīsZvaigznes #EuroBasket pic.twitter.com/Gol3zXQOom
— Latvijas Basketbola savienība (@basketbols) November 29, 2020
It is clear that today the Latvian national team must strive for victory. Then the Greek team would have three successes in four games, Latvia and Bosnia would have two victories, and Bulgaria would take the last place with one success. A loss today would mean a huge amount of pressure before the match against Bulgaria in February. It should be reminded that three teams leave the group.
In the first game of the day, the Greek national team, which Latvia won on Friday, escaped against the Bulgarian basketball players. Another 38 seconds before the end of regular time, the Bulgarians took a one-minute break with the ball and a five-point lead. However, it was unexpectedly sown, but the Greeks were already in overtime.
Head coach Roberts Štelmahers and his coaching staff have made one change – Ingus Jakovičs has been applied for the game instead of Māris Gulbs.
The Latvian national team is meeting tonight in Sarajevo with the national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina, against which it suffered a painful loss in Riga on February 21 with the result 61:62.
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