Rīgas Zeļļi to face Estonian champions Tartu University after Europe Cup loss

In the Latvian–Estonian basketball league, Rīgas Zeļļi face Estonian champions Tartu University on Friday, 9 October, at 19:00. The Riga side are unbeaten in the competition, with three wins from three games and third place in the standings. Tartu have two wins and one defeat and sit fourth.

After a European loss

On Tuesday, Zeļļi, coached by Roks Kondratavičs, lost by a single point away to Rostock Seawolves of Germany in a European cup tournament. A win would have improved their record there to 2-0. Zeļļi's Latvian players scored only three points in total in Rostock, so more is needed from them against the Estonians.

In league play, the team's main focus has so far been on its foreign players. Toni Perkins is the top scorer, averaging 18.7 points and 3.0 assists. Ben Shungu averages 13.0 points, while Isaac Johnson has 12.7 points and 7.7 rebounds. Toms Skoja has played one league game so far and scored 14 points.

The opponent

Tartu University opened the season with a heavy win over Tallinn's Bigbank/Kalev, but the team coached by Aivar Kūsma did not look dominant on its trip to Kurzeme. In Liepāja the Estonians avoided defeat only in the final minute, while in Ventspils the opponents won. Kīts Paleks leads Tartu with an average of 17.3 points per game. Omar El-Sheikh averages 14.7 points and 11.3 rebounds, and Robert Valge and Martin Pāsoja score 13.0 and 12.3 points respectively.

On Tuesday, Tartu lost by 27 points to Dziki Warsaw in a FIBA Europe Cup game, part of the Champions League qualifying tournament.

Tartu won both meetings between the sides last season, by two and three points. The game will be broadcast on Best4Sport TV.