VEF Riga defeated Elan Chalon in the last game of Day 2 at the Kaunas Nike International Junior Tournament by 75-66 and closed the string of group B games. With the win, Riga ends second in the standings with a 2-1 record while Chalon finishes winless with a 0-4 in last place. Davis Geks led the winners with his 25 points, Ivars Zvigurs added 13 and Kristaps Plavnieks posted 10. For Chalon, Axel Bouteille led the way with 24 points, Clint Capela posted 18 and David Michineau nailed 12. On Sunday, Chalon will play USK Prague for the seventh place and VEF Riga will battle Vaerlose for the third.
With good defenses on both sides, Chalon took the upper hand in the first quarter as it was ahead, 16-17 after 10 minutes. VEF Riga would have none of that and in the second, sparked by Geks and Zvigurs, the Latvian team pulled away for a 40-32 at the break. The lead went up to 50-32 after a starting 10-0 in the second half for Riga, but Chalon woke up and was back to within 52-46. After 30 minutes it was a 10-point game, 56-46. In the last period, Bouteille boosted the French team and his points soon made it a one-point game, 67-66, but in the remaining four minutes, Chalon would remain scoreless and VEF Riga secured the win. A 3 of 15 from the arc for Chalon was too much of a burden in front of the 11 of 22 for VEF Riga. Also, the French team had as many as 26 turnovers against the 20 assists of the Latvians.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Euroleague.net
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