It took three games, but BC Barons prevailed in a EuroCup contest and they did so in convincing fashion against Telekom Baskets Bonn, winning 87-70.
Barons fans, their team having lost an 87-86 heart-breaker to Lokomotiv Rostov last week, will be glad that coach Ainars Bagatskis, the Latvian legend, is also still a player for the club.
Even at 38 years of age, Bagatskis still possesses the sweetest of strokes from long range.
The player-coach was on court for 20 minutes, and he scored 20 points while also pulling down seven rebounds.
The 1.98m forward was seven of nine from the field, including a scintillating six of eight from three-point range.
When it comes to shooting the basketball in Riga, no body, it seems, is better than Ainars.
This game had some serious ebb and flow.
Barons, the hosts, stormed out to a 28-13 advantage but the German team shaved 10 points off their deficit over the next 10 minutes.
As they went to the changing rooms, Bonn must have believed they had a chance to win.
Those hopes were quickly dashed as Barons returned to the court for third quarter and caught fire. They outscored Bonn 38-10 in that period to put the result beyond doubt.
Zydrunas Urbonas weighed in with 17 points for Barons, while Lithuanian international guard Giedrius Gustas had 15.
