Finland – 1st Division Round 9: Lahti keeps a leadership position in their group

Rashad Smith The fans could enjoy quite many interesting games in the last round. The round ended with derby games, favorites losing the games and games ending by tiny margin.The game had a very big importance for second-ranked Lahti as it allowed them to take a leadership position in Division. Lahti defeated 9th ranked Jarvenpaa at home 47-30. They outrebounded Jarvenpaa 27-11 including a 19-6 advantage in defensive rebounds. It was a good game for American guard Rashad Smith (201-93, college: Tulsa) who led his team to a victory with 13 points and 8 rebounds. His fellow American import power forward Jerald Fields (201-82, college: E.Tenn.St.) contributed with 8 points and 6 rebounds for the winners. Lahti’s coach Arttu Mannelin used a ten-player rotation which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. Cameroonian forward Arsene Towa (191-81) answered with 8 points for Jarvenpaa. As mentioned above they are alone now at the top position. Jarvenpaa at the other side keeps the ninth place with six games lost. Jarvenpaa will play next round against Porvoon Tarmo trying to get back on the winning streak. Lahti will try to continue on its current victory against fourth ranked Oulun NMKY on the road. Important game to mention about took place in Helsinki. Second ranked ToPo (7-3) saved a 2-point victory on the road edging 6th ranked HBA-Marsky (4-7) 82-80 on Thursday evening. Swingman Juuso Kauppinen (188-94) stepped up and scored 23 points for the winners and Cedric Latimer chipped in 20 points and 7 rebounds. The best for the losing side was point guard Edon Maxhuni (183-98) with 26 points. Both coaches used bench players in such tough game. Newly promoted ToPo maintains second place in Division with 7-3 record having just one point less than leader PuHu Juniorit. HBA-Marsky at the other side dropped to the seventh position with seven games lost. ToPo will play against Forssan Koripojat (#5) at home in the next round. HBA-Marsky will play against Jyvaskyla BA and it may be a tough game between close rivals. A very close game took place in Forssa (derby !!!) between Porvoon Tarmo and Forssan Koripojat. Seventh ranked Porvoon Tarmo (5-7) got a very close victory on the road over 4th placed Forssan Koripojat (6-5). Porvoon Tarmo managed to escape with a 1-point win 99-98 on Sunday evening. American players dominated the game. Cameron Clark nailed 37 points (!!!), 9 rebounds and 5 assists for the winning side. Roderick Flemings came up with a double-double by scoring 32 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists (on 15-of-16 shooting from the field) for Forssan Koripojat in the defeat. Porvoon Tarmo moved-up to sixth place in Division. Loser Forssan Koripojat dropped to the fifth position with five games lost. Porvoon Tarmo will meet at home Jarvenpaa (#9) in the next round. Forssan Koripojat will play against the league’s second-placed ToPo (#2) in Helsinki and hope to secure a win. Very important is a home loss of third ranked Oulun NMKY (6-5) against fifth ranked Espoo United (6-3) on Sunday night. Host Oulun NMKY was defeated by Espoo United in a tough game in Oulun 85-90. American players dominated also this game. The best player for the winners was Jeb Ivey who scored 29 points. Espoo United’s coach Ville Neva allowed to play the deep bench players in such tough game. Espoo United moved-up to third place in Division. Oulun NMKY at the other side dropped to the fourth position with five games lost. Espoo United’s next round opponent will be Pyrinto II (#10) in Tampere and are hoping to win another game. Oulun NMKY will play at home against the league’s leader Lahti (#1) and hope to win that game. Very important is a road loss of third ranked Raholan Pyrkiva (6-3) against thirteenth ranked Namika Lr (1-9) on Sunday night. Visiting Raholan Pyrkiva was edged by Namika Lr in a tough game in Lappeenranta 71-74. It was a good game for Anttoni Tapio who led his team to a victory with 29 points and 7 rebounds. Namika Lr maintains thirteenth place in Division with 1-9 record. Loser Raholan Pyrkiva dropped to the fifth position with three games lost. Namika Lr will face higher ranked Munkkiniemen (#12) in Helsinki in the next round and it will be quite challenging to get another victory. Raholan Pyrkiva will play at home against the league’s leader PuHu Juniorit (#1) where they are definitely not considered as a favorite in this game either. There were no big surprises in other games of round 9: In Division Pyrinto II was smashed by Oulun NMKY on the road 71-48. Jarvenpaa lost to Jyvaskyla BA on its own court 63-75. HNMKY U23 unfortunately lost to Korikouvot in Kouvola 86-90. PeU-Basket recorded a loss to Espoo Basket at home 70-74. Karkkila lost to undefeated PuHu Juniorit on the opponent’s court 89-98. JyWe was smashed by TuNMKY in a home game 73-99. Ura Basket destroyed HyPo on the road 102-71. The most impressive performance of 9th round was 25 points and 11 rebounds by HL Coleman of Jarvenpaa.Division AFoKoPo – Porvoon Tarmo 98-99A very close game took place in Forssa (derby !!!) between Porvoon Tarmo and Forssan Koripojat. Seventh ranked Porvoon Tarmo (5-7) got a very close victory on the road over 4th placed Forssan Koripojat (6-5). Porvoon Tarmo managed to escape with a 1-point win 99-98 on Sunday evening. The guests were tied at the half but managed to speed up in last two quarters eventually winning the game. Porvoon Tarmo made 16-of-21 free shots (76.2 percent) during the game. Porvoon Tarmo looked well-organized offensively handing out 24 assists. American players dominated the game. Guard Cameron Clark (190-93, college: Southwestern, KS) nailed 37 points (!!!), 9 rebounds and 5 assists for the winning side and forward Kevin Straih (187-95, college: Finlandia) accounted for 24 points and 5 assists. Swingman Roderick Flemings (203-87, college: Hawaii) came up with a double-double by scoring 32 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists (on 15-of-16 shooting from the field) and forward Bruce Reed (202-90, college: Pikeville) added 18 points and 6 rebounds respectively for Forssan Koripojat in the defeat. Both teams had four players each who scored in double figures. Porvoon Tarmo moved-up to sixth place in Division. Loser Forssan Koripojat dropped to the fifth position with five games lost. Porvoon Tarmo will meet at home Jarvenpaa (#9) in the next round. Forssan Koripojat will play against the league’s second-placed ToPo (#2) in Helsinki and hope to secure a win. Top scorers:FoKoPo: R.Flemings 32+12reb+6ast, B.Reed 18+6reb+2ast, S.Bowden 15+6reb+5ast, T.Sulonen 11+2reb+8ast, J.Henttonen 10+2reb+1ast, H.Kotavuo 7+1astPorvoon Tarmo: C.Clark 37+9reb+5ast, K.Straih 24+1reb+5ast, B.Cardarelli 14+3reb+3ast, L.Giese 10+7reb+4ast, D.Lindqvist 5+4reb+4ast, A.Haikonen 4+4reb+1astgschID: 487650Lahti – Jarvenpaa 47-30The game had a very big importance for second-ranked Lahti as it allowed them to take a leadership position in Division. Lahti defeated 9th ranked Jarvenpaa at home 47-30. They outrebounded Jarvenpaa 27-11 including a 19-6 advantage in defensive rebounds. It was a good game for American guard Rashad Smith (201-93, college: Tulsa) who led his team to a victory with 13 points and 8 rebounds. His fellow American import power forward Jerald Fields (201-82, college: E.Tenn.St.) contributed with 8 points and 6 rebounds for the winners. Lahti’s coach Arttu Mannelin used a ten-player rotation which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. Cameroonian forward Arsene Towa (191-81) answered with 8 points and American forward HL Coleman (202-74, college: Wyoming) added 4 points in the effort for Jarvenpaa. As mentioned above they are alone now at the top position. Jarvenpaa at the other side keeps the ninth place with six games lost. Jarvenpaa will play next round against Porvoon Tarmo trying to get back on the winning streak. Lahti will try to continue on its current victory against fourth ranked Oulun NMKY on the road. Top scorers:Jarvenpaa: A.Towa 8+3reb, L.Tarjanne 7+1reb, J.Jousisto 6+1reb, J.Pehkonen 5+1reb+2ast, H.Coleman 4+3reb+2ast, T.Rista 0+2rebLahti: R.Smith 13+8reb+1ast, J.Fields 8+6reb+2ast, S.Ikavalko 7+1reb+5ast, R.Byman 6, A.Ahola 6+4reb, O.Aalto 3gschID: 487651Oulun NMKY – Espoo United 85-90Very important is a home loss of third ranked Oulun NMKY (6-5) against fifth ranked Espoo United (6-3) on Sunday night. Host Oulun NMKY was defeated by Espoo United in a tough game in Oulun 85-90. The game without a history. Espoo United led from the first minutes and controlled entire game increasing their lead in each quarter. They made 21-of-22 charity shots (95.5 percent) during the game. American players dominated …

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