Basket Brno reserves outscored Valmiera Glass ViA 28-7 to secure a 90-83 road win on Tuesday, January 24, at the Vidzeme Olympic Center in northern Latvia.
Players of the game
Two UCLA players enjoyed ENBL action on Tuesday night, despite being four hours drive apart.
Bryce Alford helped Zastal Zielona Gora in a 104-85 win at TalTech, while Cody Riley played his first game with Basket Brno.
The latter entered the game from the bench and scored a team high 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field.
Riley registered three blocked shots and single handedly outscored Valmiera reserves, 18-7.
Šimon Puršl scored 16 points on 8-of-8 shooting inside the three point line.
Power forward contributed with seven boards and one blocked shot.
Richard Balint had 15 points, including a 3-of-6 effort from the deep.
Shooting guard dished out five assists.
Randy Culppeper chipped in with 10 points, a game high seven assists and a game high five steals.
Don (Haskins court) or not – a UTEP point guard is putting up impressive numbers everywhere.
Tervell Beck led all scorers with 29 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the field and a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line.
Kent State star posted 11 rebounds, three assists, one steal and six forced fouls.
Niks Salenieks helped with 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field.
Valmiera sharpshooter added four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Justin McCall also had a big shooting night to finish with 15 points, including a perfect 5-of-5 effort inside the three point line.
A former CSU Bakersfield guard made one three-pointer too.
Valmiera captain Valters Vēveris had 12 points.
Key stats
Young Valmiera team put up a fight and stayed at the striking distance until the last minute.
Beck again scored 29 points and Valmiera starters combined for 76 points but it wasn`t enough.
Lubomir Ružička used a nine player rotation to outwork the hosts.
Only Richard Balint played more than 30 minutes for Brno.
Finally it paid off as Cody Riley, Jakub Necas, Jakub Krakovič and Petr Krivanek offered a breathing space for their starters.
Basket Brno scored more points in the paint, 52-38, and connected 72% of field goal attempts inside the three point line.
Game notes
The 2022 ENBL Final Four participants posted their first win in 2023.
Basket Brno is on top of the table at the Kooperativa NBL with a 15-5 record.
They are infront of a perennial favorite CEZ Nymburk.
Valmiera suffered from injuries at the end of 2022 as Niks Salenieks and Deng Matur Gak missed some games.
Vidzeme team recently made it to the Latvian Cup semifinals so there are things to smile about.
SCHEDULE (local time only)
Monday, January 23, Tallinn, Kalevi Spordihall (GMT+3h)
BC Kalev/Cramo 73–80 Polski Cukier Start Lublin
Tuesday, January 24, Tallinn, TalTech Spordihoone (GMT+3h)
Šiauliai 67–91 KB Sigal Prishtina
TalTech Optibet 85–104 BC Zielona Gora
Tuesday, January 24, Valmiera (GMT+3h)
Valmiera Glass ViA 83–90 Brno Basket
Wednesday, January 25, Tallinn, TalTech Spordihoone (GMT+3h)
13:00 BC Zielona Gora – Šiauliai
18:00 BK Sigal Prishtina – Tal Tech Optibet
Wednesday, January 25, Ness Ziona (GMT+3h)
18:00 Ironi Ness Ziona – BC Wolves
STANDINGS, as of January 24, 2023
Group A
Budivelnyk Kyiv 4-0 (+56) Qualified
Polski Cukier Start Lublin 4-1 (+44) Qualified
Zastal Zielona Gora 3-2 (+5)
Kalev/Cramo 2-4 (+19)
KB Sigal Prishtina 2-3 (-16)
Šiauliai 2-2 (-19)
TalTech Optibet 0-5 (-89)
Tie-breaker (1): Kalev/Cramo 1-1, +6; Sigal Prishtina 1-1, +3; Zastal Zielona Gora 1-1, -9.
Tie-breaker (2): Sigal Prishtina 1-1, +13; Kalev/Cramo 1-1, +3; Šiauliai 1-1, -16.
Tie-breaker (3): Sigal Prishtina 2-0, +38; Zielona Gora 0-1, -14; Šiauliai 0-1, -24.
STANDINGS, as of January 24, 2023
Group B
Stal Ostrow 4-1 (+63)
King Szczecin 4-0 (+32)
Tartu University 2-3 (+8)
Trefl Sopot 3-2 (+25)
Ironi Ness Ziona 2-2 (+3)
BC Wolves 2-1 (+28)
Basket Brno 1-4 (-39)
Valmiera Glass VIA 0-5 (-120)
Tie-breaker (1): Ironi Ness Ziona 1-0, +8; Trefl Sopot 0-1, -8.
Tie-breaker (2): Trefl Sopot 1-0, +4; Tartu 0-1, -4.