It`s time to play as Valmiera Glass ViA open the fourth European North Basketball league season with a home stand against Spišski Rytieri on Tuesday, September 17, 2024. Tipoff at 19:00 local time, 18:00 Central European Time.
Series history: Valmiera Glass ViA and Spišski Rytieri will face each other for the first time. Valmiera is the gateway to the Gauja National Park, while Spišska Nova Ves is located next to the Slovak Paradise.
Key matchup: Jordan Watson recently joined Valmiera after a season with Pieno Žvaigzdes Pasvale. Philadelphia born guard graduated West Liberty University (NCAA 2) in 2018.
Last season he averaged 15.8 points, 3.8 assists and 2.2 rebounds in 29 LKL games, including 26 points against the 2024 Lithuania champion Rytas Vilnius.
Dwayne Cohill Jr graduated from Youngstown State University in 2023. Cleveland, Ohio native started his professional career, playing for Agrigento in Serie A2 Italy.
Cohill averaged 12.8 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in his debut season. His productivity increased by the time as he scored 28 points in back-to-back games at the end of the regular season.
National championships: Valmiera played against three LKL teams early in the preparation – Juventus Utena, Nevežis Kedainiai and Lietkabelis Panevežys.
First preseason win came on September 5, when Nikolajs Mazurs and his men defeated Žalgiris junior team, 85-68. Valmiera prevailed over Tartu, 81-70, and ended the preparation with a home win against Georgian side Kutaisi, 87-80, on September 12.
Optibet Estonia and Latvia league is set to start on September 20 when Valmiera will host Liepāja.
Spišski Rytieri traveled to Debrecen, Hungary on August 30 and were defeated by local team, 59-72. Next day the Knights won at Szolnok, 71-69.
Slovak team hosted a preseason tournament on September 7-8. They lost both games against Šenčur from Slovenia, 90-102, and Szolnok, 78-92.
Know your referees
Crew chief: Elvis Binders-Čoders (Latvia) – FIBA referee from 2021, referee at the Latvia and Estonia league.
Umpire 1: Marek Kukelcik (Slovakia) – referee from 2000, FIBA referee from 2012, has worked at the Basketball Champions league from 2016.
Umpire 2: Anna Belousova (Latvia) – FIBA referee from 2019. First female referee from Latvia at the EWBL Final Four. First female referee at the Latvia Basketball league.
Observer: Mareks Voļskis (Latvia).
ENBL access: follow the game on YouTube live stream
Group A
BK Opava
CSO Voluntari
Donar Groningen
Dziki Warszawa
Newcastle Eagles
Spartak Pleven
Spišski Rytieri
Tartu Ulikool Maks&Moorits
Valmiera Glass ViA
Group B
Bakken Bears
Bamberg Baskets
Basket Brno
Bristol Flyers
Dinamo Bucharest
Fyllingen Lions
Inter Bratislava
Keila Coolbet
Legia Warszawa
Format
Four best teams from each group will qualify for the playoffs (A1-B4, A2-B3, A3-B2, A4-B1).
The 2025 playoffs – home and away, best-of-two series – will take place from February 8 until March 21.
The 2025 Final Four will take place on April 8-9.
Broadcasts
All games will be broadcasted in at least three countries, including home country, visiting country and Best4Sport TV in Latvia, plus a live stream in league`s official YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@ENBLeague .
Every team must provide a broadcast for every home game.
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