Edmunds Dukulis marshals Latvia to a 99-96 win over Canada: 2011 FIBA Under-19 World Championship
Edmunds Dukulis made a game winning double-double as Latvia overcame Canada 99-96 in a closely fought game on Thursday in FIBA Under-19 World Championship game. Both teams played a good game overall, but Latvia’s facilitators stole
the show as they provided 22 assists in comparison to Canada’s 12 dimes.
Dukulis tallied 23 points and clutched 11 rebounds for Latvia with 57 percent shooting from the field and 78 percent from the three-point range during his 34:10 minutes stay on court. His team-mates Davis Bertans chipped in with
18 and Kaspars Vecvagars added 17 points.
Canada triggered scoring rampage, as they left Latvians behind with an 11-2 burst early in the first quarter. Latvia quickly made the aggression and bridged the gap down to just three-point margin (13-10).
Seeing the Latvians getting close, the Canadians made another spurt that extended their advantage to 17-12, before Latvia tied the scores twice and then went ahead with an 11-5 run with less than two minutes to go in the period.
However, Canada’s Philip Scrubb made two successive free throws that pushed the score to 24-23 and seized the quarter in his team’s favour.
The scuffle for domination continued in most part of the second quarter, as the scores remained tied on three occasions and the lead changed five times. Eventually, Canadians were able to penetrate into the solid defence of Latvia,
as they used a 16-7 rate of knots to claim another quarter by 54-44 lead at the halftime.
Latvia was trailing by 10 points when the second half began, before they changed the gears and set the court ablaze with a ferocious comeback. Latvia rattled the Canadians with a 18-12 surge and snatched the lead (66-64). At the
close of the third period, Latvia successfully maintained the lead and led Canada by 71-69.
The Latvian squad carried the aggression in the final quarter and extended their lead to 11 points, before Canada charged back and slashed the shortfall down to four points (85-81) with more than five minutes to go. However, after
that Latvians did not allow Canadians to draw much closer, except for the last few seconds when the difference was just three points (99-96). Latvia’s defensive unit kept Canada under check though and registered the game in their favour.
Dyshawn Pierre led the Canadian squad with game-high 30 points along with 10 rebounds, but could not save Canada from the defeat.
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