The Latvian National Team won three games in a row in a tournament in Riga from August 4 – 6 in preparation for Eurobasket 2007.

The first game against Lithuania turned out to be not only a matter of principle for both Baltic countries but also a celebration for all the basketball fans gathered at the Arena Riga.
The last time Latvia beat Lithuania was at EuroBasket 2001 in Turkey.

This time the fantastic victory was gained with a last second three point shot made by Kristaps Janicenoks, as the home team won by a single point 84-83.

		Kristaps Janicenoks hit a last second three-pointer to give Latvia the win over Lithuania.

Before the game there was a special ceremony in which the president of the Latvian Basketball Federation Ojars Kehris awarded symbolic golden medals to the 15 best Latvian basketball players of the last fifteen years for their great individual success and commitment to the National Team as well as the development of basketball in Latvia in general.

The players were also greeted by the president of Latvia Valdis Zatlers and the Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis.

On the second night of the tournament Latvia scored a more convincing victory against Belarus.

Latvia owned the court through the whole game with their true power coming into sight during the third quarter – 24 consecutive points with no answer from Belarus side, that led to the overall score of 84-52.

The third and final game of the tournament in Riga between Latvia and New Zealand resulted in another victory for the home team.

The opponents played an athletic and aggressive style of basketball that allowed them to overscore Latvia a couple of times during the game.

Nevertheless Latvia managed to win the match 82-74 thanks to their great work on defense and the loud support of the thousands of basketball fans who had come to the game.

Latvian NBA star Andris Biedrins was named the most valuable player of the tournament.

This was his first time playing in front of a Latvian audience in the colours of national team.
He lived up to all of the expectations and showed the same performance as in regular season games when playing for his NBA club Goldenstate Warriors.

Biedrins scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds during his best game against Lithuania.

“I am comfortable with my own game at this tournament, I did my best. Some of the fouls I made were caused by nothing but emotions, but I’m going to work on that.” he said afterwards.

The Head coach of the Latvian team Karlis Muiznieks pointed out that the schedule of the tournament helped the team to prepare for the championship, where there are also going to play three games in three days.

“We had a good match tonight, but the team can play even better, of that I am sure. There are seven more games ahead of us before the championship and that means plenty of time to improve different physical and tactical elements as well as test players for different positions on the court.” he said.

The next game for the Latvian team is against Russia on the 10th of August in Riga.