Eurobasket 2013 Qualifier: Bertans, Latvia even record with victory over Romania

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When we last left off covering the 2013 Eurobasket Qualifier almost a week ago, San Antonio Spurs draftee Davis Bertans and his country of Latvia (2-2) had just earned their first victory in the Eurobasket 2013 qualifying round.

After earning that first win with Latvia, Bertans and the Latvians suffered another loss to Georgia on Friday 79-76. Bertans struggled in the loss as he missed all six of his attempted shots, and ended the game with zero points. He did however grab six rebounds, but it wasn’t significant since he turned the ball over four times in just 16 minute of action.

On Monday, Latvia was back in play against Romania and even though Bertans didn’t have a stellar game, his team’s overall defense did. Latvia crushed Romania 89-53 in a route that put the Latvians in the third slot of the group they’re in, Group D.

Bertans played 15 minutes and scored five points by shooting 1-of-5 from the floor (1/4 from three-point range), grabbing two rebounds, and dishing two assists. Even though he wasn’t a huge force offensively, his defensive numbers were more important. Bertans ended the game with three blocks and one steal, though he did collect four personal fouls in the game.

On Thursday, Latvia will face Bosnia and Herzegovina for the second time in their group. The Bosnians were the team that handed Latvia their opening qualifying loss two weeks ago.