VEF Surges To 4th-Straight Win At PARMA’s Expense

VEF Surges To 4th-Straight Win At PARMA’s Expense

VEF Latvia defeated PARMA Russia on the road, 78-73 (22-26, 19-19, 18-17, 19-11).

Top Scorers
PARMA: Tre’ McLean (15), Ken Brown (12)

VEF: Glenn Cosey (18 + 5 ast), Steve Zack (16 + 12 reb), Jabril Durham (15 + 6 ast), Andrejs Grazulis (11)

Story
VEF won a thriller in Perm to keep its playoff hopes alive, overturning a seven-point deficit in the final five minutes. 

PARMA, which had lost nine in a row entering Sunday, appeared in control after Ken Brown’s jumper put the home team on top, 68-61, with 4:30 remaining.

But the Latvians, who have now won four in a row and climbed from last place to 10th, scored eight unanswered points to take the lead, 69-68, and ultimately hold on for the victory.

Jabril Durham connected on the go-ahead triple. Meanwhile, Glenn Cosey, who’s been electric since joining Riga in early February, hit the dagger 3 with 20 seconds left that extended the lead to four (74-70). 

For PARMA, the loss was only the latest in a string of disappointing results as the Russian club has now lost 10 in a row. 

The home team led almost the entire contest, including a game-high nine-point advantage midway through the 2nd quarter. 

Tre’ McLean, who returned to Perm earlier this week after starting the season in Saratov, scored a team-high 15 points. He was a major factor late in the 3rd quarter, helping PARMA regain control with a layup and a dunk that made it 62-57. 

And for the first 5+ minutes of the 4th quarter, it looked like Perm would finally end its skid, limiting VEF to only two points as it built a seven-point edge. 

But VEF’s sharpshooters and rock-solid defense down the stretch forced a different outcome, helping one of the League’s hottest teams keep its playoff hopes alive.

The Latvians improve to 7-13, one win behind Kalev and Avtodor for 8th place, though VEF has three more losses.

Stat
16 – number of 3-pointers by Glenn Cosey in the last three games, including four tonight. The American sniper has been a big reason for VEF’s success. 

Quotes
PARMA interim head coach Viacheslav Shushakov: “The team is very upset right now. The guys really wanted to win this game. Some of them could manage the pressure, others not so much. Our centers mentally did not get in the game, so we really struggled in that area of the game. We also big hopes that Sasha Platunov would continue playing at a high level, but he couldn’t find himself in this game. The game was also challenging because we couldn’t increase the tempo we set. Ultimately, in the 4th quarter that affected the players who spent more time on the court.”

VEF head coach Janis Gailitis: “Today’s game was tough. PARMA is a strong physical team and they played with good energy and effort today, and pushed the tempo. We had a decent start, but then we made unnecessary mistakes on defense and offense with a lot of bad decisions and fouls. During the second half, we were able to get in rhythm. Even so, the finish was very tense. We got lucky with our shots in the final minutes and were able to win.” 

Photos

10/03/2019 PARMA-VEF 73:78