RIGA — VEF Riga succumbed to a surprise 60-55 loss to Rock at home Saturday afternoon in the latest Baltic Basketball League action.
The loss now sees the Latvians flailing at the bottom of the ladder and Rock temporarily back in the top four. The nature of the tournament means that some teams have played a lot more games than others at this stage, which accounts for Rock sitting in the top four with a paltry 3-5 record. Once teams like Lietuvos Rytas play their catch-up games the ladder will have a somewhat different order to it.
In their latest outing Rock were seeking their first away victory to remain a mathematical chance of being involved in playoff basketball. For VEF Riga, it was a chance to put some respectability back into a campaign that promised much but delivered precious little thus far.
A sluggish start was not doing VEF Riga any favors with Rock coming out of the starting blocks firing to finish the first period 20-10 up on the back of a strong quarter from Todd Abernethy and Janar Talts.
The second quarter was a messy affair with both teams committing a rift of errors to be expected from some of the lower teams in the competition. VEF Riga had a bigger hand in the game but could still not contain Rock’s lead from extending, who went into the half 32-19.
VEF Riga needed a major change in attitude if they were to give themselves any hope and this is exactly what occurred in the third quarter as they began to cut back on their errors and started making their shots. However, Talts and Abernethy continued to deliver for Rock by meeting VEF Riga’s lift in tempo and effectively shut their hosts out of the game. Going into the final quarter, VEF Riga still trailed by 14.
VEF Riga fort gallantly in the final quarter as some began to sense a miracle comeback. With just two minutes left on the clock the gap had been brought back to just four on the back of some solid all-round game-play from American Alex Renfroe. However, his attempts were in vain as Rock’s defense remained as solid as their namesake.
