VENTSPILS, Latvia — Tough luck, Estonia. Šiauliai and Ventspils will join Lietuvos Rytas and Žalgiris at the semifinal stage of the 09/10 Baltic Basketball League playoffs.

Neither Rock nor VEF Riga were able to upset their heavily-favored opponents, but that was not to say they did not put up a good fight along the way.

Having beaten Šiauliai at home, Rock missed out on a golden opportunity to advance, losing the return game at home. Returning to Šiauliai Arena for the decider, the Lithuanians were not about to commit the same mistakes they had a little over the previous week.

The best that Rock could muster was holding their opposition to a 22-22 stalemate in the first quarter, before Šiauliai began to [private_supervisor]develop a small lead building up to halftime, a lead that they would not relinquish for the remainder of the match, going on to win 92-80.

Like he has all season, Scott Morrison took the fate of Rock upon his own shoulders, leading his team in points (19) and boards (7), whilst the workload for Šiauliai was shared around a little more with Raitis Grafs and Derrick Low both finishing on 14 points.

Scoring a match high 30 points was not enough to see Taj McCullough lead VEF Riga to victory over Ventspils, with the boys from Riga having their Saturday one-point win reversed  (80-81).

VEF Riga came out of the blocks strong, dominating the first period to build a daunting 23-9 lead. But is has been said here before and it will be said again now —  this is a Ventspils team not to be underestimated, playing with maturity beyond their young years.

By half-time the lead had been cut to eight and by the time the final quarter began, the lead was down to just two points, on the back of a renewed defensive effort that effectively cut VEF Riga’s go-to man, Alex Renfroe out of the game.

The lead ebbed and flowed throughout the final period, as both teams managed to develop small leads before being roped in. Mateo Kedzo kept a cool head, sinking some clutch baskets, before handing the limelight over to team mate Janis Strelnieks to become the hero on the night.

With 1:03 left on the clock, Strelnieks sunk his jump shot to put his side up by two (79-77) before a trip to the line and another jump shot saw VEF Riga again take the lead by one with five seconds on the clock. Calling the timeout, the message from Ventspils was clear — get the ball to Strelnieks to keep the season alive.

And keep it alive he did, sinking his jumpshot as the buzzer rang out through the arena. Protests from VEF Riga would prove fruitless, with replays showing he clearly got the shot off in time.

All action now moves to Lithuania on Sunday with Lietuvos Rytas hosting Šiauliai in semifinal 1, whilst Žalgiris play hosts to Ventspils. [/private_supervisor] [private_subscription 1 month]develop a small lead building up to halftime, a lead that they would not relinquish for the remainder of the match, going on to win 92-80.

Like he has all season, Scott Morrison took the fate of Rock upon his own shoulders, leading his team in points (19) and boards (7), whilst the workload for Šiauliai was shared around a little more with Raitis Grafs and Derrick Low both finishing on 14 points.

Scoring a match high 30 points was not enough to see Taj McCullough lead VEF Riga to victory over Ventspils, with the boys from Riga having their Saturday one-point win reversed (80-81).

VEF Riga came out of the blocks strong, dominating the first period to build a daunting 23-9 lead. But is has been said here before and it will be said again now — this is a Ventspils team not to be underestimated, playing with maturity beyond their young years.

By half-time the lead had been cut to eight and by the time the final quarter began, the lead was down to just two points, on the back of a renewed defensive effort that effectively cut VEF Riga’s go-to man, Alex Renfroe out of the game.

The lead ebbed and flowed throughout the final period, as both teams managed to develop small leads before being roped in. Mateo Kedzo kept a cool head, sinking some clutch baskets, before handing the limelight over to team mate Janis Strelnieks to become the hero on the night.

With 1:03 left on the clock, Strelnieks sunk his jump shot to put his side up by two (79-77) before a trip to the line and another jump shot saw VEF Riga again take the lead by one with five seconds on the clock. Calling the timeout, the message from Ventspils was clear — get the ball to Strelnieks to keep the season alive.

And keep it alive he did, sinking his jumpshot as the buzzer rang out through the arena. Protests from VEF Riga would prove fruitless, with replays showing he clearly got the shot off in time.

All action now moves to Lithuania on Sunday with Lietuvos Rytas hosting Šiauliai in semifinal 1, whilst Žalgiris play hosts to Ventspils. [/private_subscription 1 month] [private_subscription 4 months]develop a small lead building up to halftime, a lead that they would not relinquish for the remainder of the match, going on to win 92-80.

Like he has all season, Scott Morrison took the fate of Rock upon his own shoulders, leading his team in points (19) and boards (7), whilst the workload for Šiauliai was shared around a little more with Raitis Grafs and Derrick Low both finishing on 14 points.

Scoring a match high 30 points was not enough to see Taj McCullough lead VEF Riga to victory over Ventspils, with the boys from Riga having their Saturday one-point win reversed (80-81).

VEF Riga came out of the blocks strong, dominating the first period to build a daunting 23-9 lead. But is has been said here before and it will be said again now — this is a Ventspils team not to be underestimated, playing with maturity beyond their young years.

By half-time the lead had been cut to eight and by the time the final quarter began, the lead was down to just two points, on the back of a renewed defensive effort that effectively cut VEF Riga’s go-to man, Alex Renfroe out of the game.

The lead ebbed and flowed throughout the final period, as both teams managed to develop small leads before being roped in. Mateo Kedzo kept a cool head, sinking some clutch baskets, before handing the limelight over to team mate Janis Strelnieks to become the hero on the night.

With 1:03 left on the clock, Strelnieks sunk his jump shot to put his side up by two (79-77) before a trip to the line and another jump shot saw VEF Riga again take the lead by one with five seconds on the clock. Calling the timeout, the message from Ventspils was clear — get the ball to Strelnieks to keep the season alive.

And keep it alive he did, sinking his jumpshot as the buzzer rang out through the arena. Protests from VEF Riga would prove fruitless, with replays showing he clearly got the shot off in time.

All action now moves to Lithuania on Sunday with Lietuvos Rytas hosting Šiauliai in semifinal 1, whilst Žalgiris play hosts to Ventspils. [/private_subscription 4 months] [private_subscription 1 year]develop a small lead building up to halftime, a lead that they would not relinquish for the remainder of the match, going on to win 92-80.

Like he has all season, Scott Morrison took the fate of Rock upon his own shoulders, leading his team in points (19) and boards (7), whilst the workload for Šiauliai was shared around a little more with Raitis Grafs and Derrick Low both finishing on 14 points.

Scoring a match high 30 points was not enough to see Taj McCullough lead VEF Riga to victory over Ventspils, with the boys from Riga having their Saturday one-point win reversed (80-81).

VEF Riga came out of the blocks strong, dominating the first period to build a daunting 23-9 lead. But is has been said here before and it will be said again now — this is a Ventspils team not to be underestimated, playing with maturity beyond their young years.

By half-time the lead had been cut to eight and by the time the final quarter began, the lead was down to just two points, on the back of a renewed defensive effort that effectively cut VEF Riga’s go-to man, Alex Renfroe out of the game.

The lead ebbed and flowed throughout the final period, as both teams managed to develop small leads before being roped in. Mateo Kedzo kept a cool head, sinking some clutch baskets, before handing the limelight over to team mate Janis Strelnieks to become the hero on the night.

With 1:03 left on the clock, Strelnieks sunk his jump shot to put his side up by two (79-77) before a trip to the line and another jump shot saw VEF Riga again take the lead by one with five seconds on the clock. Calling the timeout, the message from Ventspils was clear — get the ball to Strelnieks to keep the season alive.

And keep it alive he did, sinking his jumpshot as the buzzer rang out through the arena. Protests from VEF Riga would prove fruitless, with replays showing he clearly got the shot off in time.

All action now moves to Lithuania on Sunday with Lietuvos Rytas hosting Šiauliai in semifinal 1, whilst Žalgiris play hosts to Ventspils. [/private_subscription 1 year]

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