Raviollo finished the M50/55 group stage without a single defeat after taking care of the previously undefeated Perlas and registering an 83-50 victory on Wednesday morning. After a close first quarter, the two group leaders seemed to be set for an intriguing encounter.
The score was 21-16 and the two group leaders seemed to be set for a close encounter, but an 11-0 run to finish the half saw the Russians increase the gap to 45-23 at the interval. Any sense of intrigue had evaporated by the second half, with the game turning into a rout.
Dmitriy Slasarev led the winners in scoring with 17 points, Aleksei Ugriomov had 12 points, while Aleksandr Kalinin added 11 points and eight boards.
For Perlas, Arunas Grigas had a game-high 22 points and grabbed eight boards, while the only other player in double digits, Saulius Kriksciunas, finished the game with 11 points.
Meanwhile, Salilita, the only M55+ team in the competition grabbed its first win in the M50/55 category after defeating a younger Virtuozo team from Riga 80-74.
The game see-sawed back and forth for four quarters and was tied at 70-all midway through the final period after Andris Liepins nailed a three-pointer. However, Valerijus Prokopas scored six points from the free-throw strip to give Salilita some breathing room and, eventually, the win.
Steponas Jakubauskas led the winners with 23 points, eight rebounds and four assists, Stanislovas Kaulius scored 20 points, while Silvijus Zivatkauskas added 19.
For Virtuozo, Andris Liepins was one assist shy from a triple-double, scoring 27 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing out nine assists. Juris Gusevs added 12 points and seven boards.
The Latvians will now play Perlas in the semifinal for a chance to join Raviollo in the final. The loser of the Perlas vs Virtuozo semifinal will play Salilita.
