The Latvian men's basketball team defeated the Estonian national team in a tough match in the second match of the European Championship final tournament in Riga on Friday. Latvia won the Group A match 72:70 (17:21, 21:21, 25:19, 9:9).

Compared to the first game against Turkey, Andrejs Gražulis started the game instead of Rolands Šmits, but the injury sustained in the previous game did not prevent Artūrs Žagars from starting on the field.

Arturs Konontšuks opened the scoring with a long three-pointer, putting Estonia ahead 3:0, but Kristaps Porziņģis tied the game with a three-pointer - 3:3.

The Estonians, with two accurate free throws by Kristian Kullame and a long-range shot by Henri Drell, led the Estonian team 8:3, and after a long-range shot by Siim Sander Vene - 11:4.

With a 5:0 breakthrough, the Latvian national team closed the score to 17:19, with Kristeras Zoriks making the first long-range shot of the Latvian national team in the game 26 seconds before the end of the first quarter.

They had to lose the quarter 17:21.

The Estonians started the second quarter with an eight-point lead, reaching their largest lead of the game at that time - 29:17 - after a shot from under the basket by Matias Tas.

Estonian basketball players made five of the first seven long-range shots, while the Latvian team made one of 11 shots.

After Porzingis' two-point shot, the Latvians cut the deficit in half - 23:26, and after Dāvis Bertāns' shot from under the basket - to 29:33.

Vene also suffered in this episode, going to the locker room, having managed to accumulate seven points and three rebounds in less than ten minutes of play.

After Gražulis' hook shot, the Latvians came close to 36:37, but the Estonian national team won the half with a score of 42:38.

The Estonians started the second half with a converted free throw for Rihards Lomažs' technical foul at the end of the first half, gaining a 46:38 lead after a long-range shot by Konontšuks.

Lomažs' three-pointer allowed the Latvian national team to close the gap to 41:46, but the Estonian national team responded with a six-point breakthrough, reaching 52:41 after Konontšuk's three-pointer and two points.

The home team responded with an eight-point lead, closing the gap to 49:52 after a three-pointer by Schmidt, but at the end of the quarter they made another nine-point lead, with 49 seconds left in the quarter when Zorikas' three-pointer gave Latvia the lead for the first time in the game - 63:61.

The first points in the fourth quarter were scored after just five minutes and seven seconds of play in the quarter, when Porzingis scored a basket, making it 65:61, but after one accurate free throw from him, Latvia achieved its largest lead of the game - 66:61.

A minute before the end of the match, Porzingis made a three-pointer to make it 71:64, but Janari Jēsārs made a long-range shot in the return attack.

Matias Tass made one of two free throws, but Zorik also only hit the first one - 72:68.

On the last attack, Drells recovered two points, but Latvia won 72:70.

In the early Group A game in Riga, Turkey defeated the Czech Republic 92:78, but Portugal will face Serbia at 9:15 p.m.

Meanwhile, in the Finnish city of Tampere, in Group B on Friday, Germany first defeated Sweden 105:83, and Lithuania defeated Montenegro 94:67.

Finland will face Great Britain at 8:30 p.m. All European Championship matches are also shown on the"Go3" platform.

On Wednesday, Latvian basketball players lost to Turkey 73:93 in the first match of the European Championship, while Estonia suffered a 64:98 defeat against Serbia.

The Latvian national team won two and lost three times in the test matches before the championship. First, the national team lost to Italy in Trieste with 75:91, but in the test matches at home they lost to Lithuania with 105:109 in overtime and defeated Slovenia with 100:88. In Athens they lost to Greece with 86:104, but defeated Italy with 83:68.

Meanwhile, the Estonians won three of their five test matches in the preparation phase. The Estonians beat Israel (93:81), Georgia (75:70) and Sweden (88:87), but lost to Lithuania (68:89) and Great Britain, against whom they lost in the final test match 62:72.

The Latvian national team did not qualify for the 2022 European Championship finals, finishing last in the qualifying group with one win behind Bosnia, Greece and Bulgaria. The Estonian national team won one of five games in the previous European Championship finals in the subgroup, beating only Great Britain, and ranked 19th in the overall standings.

The Latvian national team will continue the tournament in Group A in Riga on August 30th against Serbia, on September 1st - against Portugal, and on September 3rd - against the Czech Republic.

Head coach Lukas Bankis is assisted by coaches Jānis Gailītis, Artūrs Visockis-Rubenis, Žanis Peiners and Dāvis Čoders, as well as physical training coach Oskars Ernšteins, on the Latvian national team.

The European Championship final tournament will see 24 teams divided into four groups in late August and early September in Riga, Tampere, Katowice and Limassol. The top four teams from each group will qualify for the play-off tournament in Riga, with the medal winners to be determined in the first half of September.

Latvian national team: Mareks Mejeris (Cluj-Napoca U-BT, Romania), Kristaps Porzingis (Atlanta Hawks, USA), Dāvis Bertāns ("Dubai", UAE), Dairis Bertāns ("VEF Riga"), Rolands Šmits (Anadolu Efes, Istanbul, Turkey), Klāvs Čavars (Baku Sabah, Azerbaijan), Rihards Lomažs (Klaipeda Neptūnas, Lithuania), Andrejs Gražulis (Ankara Turk Telekom, Turkey), Mārcis Šteinbergs (Manreza Baxi, Spain), Artūrs Kurucs (Lugo Rio Breogan, Spain), Artūrs Žagars (Fenerbahce, Istanbul, Turkey), Kristers Zoriks (Leida Hiopos, Spain).

Estonian national team: Henri Drell (San Cristobal de la Laguna Tenerife, Spain), Kregor Hermet (Kalev/Cramo Tallinn, Estonia), Janari Jesar (Dziki Warsaw, Poland), Miks Jurkatamm (Avellino, Italy), Artur Konontsuk (EWE Oldenburg, Germany), Christian Kullame (Bilbao, Spain), Sanders Raieste (Baskonia Vitoria, Spain), Jonas Riesma (Cantu, Italy), Mert Rosenthal, Siim Sanders Vene (both - Stal Wielkopolska Ostrów Wielkopolska), Matthias Tass (Oostende, Belgium), Kaspars Treier (Napoli, Italy).