Eurocup Qualifying Round

Azovmash simply had no way of stopping BK Ventspils guard Jahmar Young, who finished the game with 28 points

BK Ventspils rode the back of hot-shooting Jahmar Young and scraped a 75-74 home win over Azovmash in the first leg of their Eurocup Qualifying Round tie on Tuesday evening.

The Latvian side, which got 28 points from Young, will know they have a lot of work to do when the second leg is played in Mariupol if a Regular Season appearance in the European competition is to be theirs.

Ventspils, with Young and Bojan Bakic burying shots from long range, went on top 56-46 with four minutes remaining in the third quarter but Azovmash refused to let them pull away.

Instead, the Ukrainian outfit dug in and eventually went on an 8-2 tear late in the fourth period to go in front, 74-70.

Daniel Ewing Jr had four of his 13 points in the contest during that scoring spurt that had Azovmash in an excellent position in the tie.

Ventspils got a jump shot from one of Latvia's young national team players at the EuroBasket, center Martins Meiers, before Young capped a spectacular night at the death with his fourth three-ball for a 75-74 first-leg win.

Janis Strelnieks and Bakic each had 12 points while power forward Samuel Willard had a game-high 11 rebounds to go with his 10 points.

Ricky Minard's 16 points led a balanced attack for Azovmash, who had three other players reach double digits in points.