Battling Belgacom Blow Out Ventspils

Belgacom Liege hit the road and thrashed BK Ventspils 73-54 on Wednesday in the opening week of the EuroChallenge Regular Season.

The Belgian team had a balanced scoring attack with Justin Cage, Christopher Hill and Jamar Wilson each scoring 12 points.

Will Thomas and Jerald Fields finished with 10 apiece as well in Belgacom's Group A victory.

Latvian club Ventspils were on top 13-9 six minutes into the game when they fell apart.

Thomas, Wilson and Cage each connected on jump shots and Hill added a three-point play as Belgacom took an 18-13 advantage and went in front for good.

Mareks Jurevicus tried to stop the bleeding at the free throw line but only made one of two and Larry Owens followed with a three-ball for Belgacom Liege.

The visitors took a 41-30 lead to half-time and then blew the game wide open late in the third quarter.

A Hill jump shot left them on top at 60-41 and they rolled to victory.

Not one player for Ventspils reached double figures in points.

Ronalds Zakis and Janis Strelnieks each had eight.

Belgacom were 24 of 45 (53.3%) inside the arc compared to Ventspils' 13-of-35 (37.1%) effort.

The home side also hit just six of 26 (23%) from long range while Liege made six of 17 (35.2%).

Quotes BK Ventspils vs. Belgacom Liege

Agris Galvanovskis, Ventspils Coach:

"The reason for such bad result was the wrong attitude of our players. Actually, the players weren't ready for the game, even the most experienced ones."

"Brazelton still has an injury and this is the reason why he wasn't playing today. Starting from the beginning of the game we made lots of unnecessary mistakes."

"Before the game when I was talking to my team I said that we have to withstand the force and energy of our opponents, because they are physically stronger than we are. BC "Liege" has a strong defence and they are more active under the basket. But our team made lots of mistakes and it all together resulted in a lost game."

"I think that it is not impossible to win BC "Liege". If our team will change the attitude and prepare themselves psychologically, we will definitely win."

About Veselovs:

"At the beginning he was playing good, but later there were problems, he got tired. This is because he has just returned in a game after his injury."

Mikus Sokolovs, Ventspils Player:

"I think my first debut could have been better. I made mistakes and was quite nervous. I cannot comment about my teammates, but I can say about myself-I could have played better."