LSBL 26/2008 - TTT Rīga 90, SK Cēsis 83

SK Cēsis (23-3) had two advantages over rival team TTT Rīga (26-1). First, they were playing at home. Second, there were 1,200 fans in attendance which set a new record for Latvian basketball. Despite the fan support, SK Cēsis fell to TTT Rīga by a score of 90-83.

The box score is here.

TTT Rīga took an 8-0 run in the first quarter to break a 6-6 tie, and TTT Rīga led 26-14 after just one quarter. SK Cēsis clawed back in the second quarter and and TTT Rīga's lead would be cut to five, 42-37 at halftime. SK Cēsis continued to attack their rivals and actually led at one time in the third quarter, 48-47, but TTT Rīga still led 59-55 after thirty minutes.

In the fourth quarter, a Kristen Mann shot put SK Cēsis in the lead again, 80-79. Unfortunately, SK Cēsis would only score four more points in the rest of the game.

The only mention of Tamera Young in the game writeup was the following:

Nothing but violate the rules, moreover Brunermane which has sodiņus metusi convincingly, discarding the two missed additives still receiving the note itself. At that moment, nerves fail Tamer Jang, who also nopūdelē both sodiņus and Riga is at balls, which both quickly and succeed in intercepting ... discard auta ...

I'm sure it means something, and probably not something good.

SK Cēsis hit 52 percent of its field goal attempts (including 7-of-11 from 3-point range), whereas TTT Rīga hit 42 percents of its shots. So what happened to SK Cēsis? First, TTT Rīga went 11-for-22 from behind the 3-point line. Second, SK Cēsis turned the ball over 23 times compared to TTT Rīga's 11 turnovers.

Third, Ieva Tare, SK Cēsis's team captain was out with pneumonia. (Hey, it's cold in Latvia.) I'm sure SK Cēsis could have used her.

SK Cēsis

Kristen Mann: 23 points and 9 rebounds for the ex-Dream player.
Santa Dreimane: 17 points, 6 rebounds.
Tamera Young: 19 points and 4 rebounds in 26 minutes of play.

TTT Rīga

Merike Anderson: 29 points and 5 rebounds.
Aija Brumermane: 10 points and 6 rebounds. 8-for-10 from the free throw line.
Zane Eglīte: 12 points and 7 rebounds.

As soon as there are pictures, I'll post them.