Lithuania international point guard Giedrus Gustas scored 21 points to lead Barons to a 76-66 victory over Cholet Basket on Wednesday.

French outfit Cholet fought bravely but the Latvian giants pulled away in the fourth quarter for their second triumph in Group D of the EuroCup Qualifying Round.

Gustas and Co led by as many as 15 points in the final period, but they found the going very tough for three quarters.

Barons opened up a 16-7 lead in the first period but Cholet hit back with a 13-3 run, capped by Nando De Colo's three-ball, to lead 20-19.

When Martins Kravcenko, Barons' 1.90m shooting guard, struck from three-point range for a 23-20 advantage, the Latvian side had the lead for good although Cholet stayed within striking distance.

At half-time, the French only trailed 31-27 and three times in the third quarter, they closed the gap to three points.

But Barons did just enough to keep their noses in front and in the fourth quarter they lowered the boom, moving in front by as many as 15 points on a jumper by Armands Skele with 3:17 to go.

Cholet managed to reduce the arrears to eight points before losing by 10.

Demetrius Alexander had 20 points for Barons while De Colo also had 21 points in a losing effort.

Cholet slipped to 1-2 with this setback.

Erman Kunter, Cholet Basket coach:

"During this game we did not have our full squad because of  the regulations of FIBA about non-European players in team. The French championship is our priority and in this time we have not enough players to make enough changes in a game. At the end our leading players were too tired."

Karlis Muiznieks, Barons-LMT coach:

"I am satisfied with our win because it was our first in 2008. Two new players joined our team. At this moment we are pleased with our roster. For the most part of this game we were in a the lead, there were no drops. In the meantime in our group there is no real leader, Lokomotiv are playing better, after the coach changed. The challenge to get into the next round is still there."