WHILE already out of the medal race, Latvia is training its sights on the next big thing– finishing fifth in the 32-team field.
The weary Latvians moved within a win of that goal last night, scoring a come-from-behind 87-82 victory over Italy in the classification phase of the 19th FIBA World Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
Forward Andrejs Grazulis turned in a game-high 28 points, grabbed six rebounds, and issued one assist for the Latvijas basketbola izlase, while Aigars Skele chipped in 12 markers, four boards, and nine dimes.
Arturs Zagars also had 10 points, one carom, and six feeds as the Latvians atoned for a heartrending 79-81 loss to Germany in their quarterfinals tiff two nights back.
Latvia will take on the winner of the Slovenia and Lithuania clash in the classification match for fifth overall tomorrow, Saturday, at the same Pasay-based venue.
The Azzurri failed to rebound from a 63-100 drubbing at the hands of the United States last Tuesday also in the Last Eight.
The Latvijas basketbola izlase battled back from an early 13-point deficit and enjoyed a 46-42 lead at the break.
Latvia went into the payoff period with a 67-60 edge.
“A good win despite the very short time we had to recover our mental and physical energy after yesterday (last Wednesday’s) game against Germany. There was no possibility to prepare for the game for our usual routine but one more time, it was another chance to go and dig into the venues of this squad, a group of guys,” Latvia coach Luca Banchi said. “They proved that despite the very sloppy approach with the game, they really cared, and they came back and found the vibes, the rhythm to play with our usual flow.
“So, it was nice to finally see the team perform as I was expecting and at the end it was very tough, very tight but a good win that will help us in the next game,” he added.
