Avtodor Russia defeated VEF Latvia on the road, 82-79 (23-16, 16-23, 27-20, 16-20).
Top Scorers
VEF: Kristaps Janicenoks (23), Alex Perez (15 + 8 reb + 9 ast), Arnolds Helmanis (14)
Avtodor: Justin Robinson (23), Coty Clarke (20 + 10 reb), Ian Hummer (12 + 6 reb)
Story
Avtodor turned a four-point deficit into a seven-point lead with a 16-5 run to end the 3rd quarter and never looked back, earning its fifth win of the season at VEF’s expense.
Coty Clarke led the visitors with a double-double–20 points and 10 rebounds–and Justin Robinson poured in 23 on 6-8 shooting from downtown.
The two teams battled to a 39-39 tie in the first half. The visitors led most of the way, but VEF hung around, ending the 2nd quarter on a 5-0 run courtesy of Kristaps Janicenoks and Kaspars Berzins.
The home team went on to take a four-point lead midway through the 3rd, before Justin Robinson helped ignite Avtodor’s offense with nine points in two minutes.
Leading by double digits midway through the 4th, Avtodor had to survive a VEF comeback. With seconds left on the clock, Arnas Labuckas cut the deficit to three with a free throw. After he missed the second, Janicenoks snagged the rebound and could have forced overtime with a 3, but his shot missed the mark, allowing the visitors to escape.
Avtodor improves to 5-4, while VEF drops to a League-worst 1-8.
Sick Slam
Wow, seems like @ShaqInTheBox dunks no matter what 😱 pic.twitter.com/Z1fa18Resj
— VTB United League (@VTBUL) January 6, 2018
Stat
17 – number of VEF turnovers (Avtodor had only 11).
Up Next
Avtodor: January 13 home vs. PARMA
VEF: January 15 away vs. Astana
Photos
