Strong second half helped Galil Gilboa to stay perfect

The Israeli Galil Gilboa stayed the only undefeated team in Group A of EUROHOLD Balkan League after a win over  Rilski Sportist at home - 76:67.  Galil played a solid third period,  winning it 24:14, and getting a comfortable lead before the last 10 minutes. This game was really important  for both teams, as they were the only two unbeaten teams in group A before tonight’s game.  Rilski were the more active team before the break, but in the second half Galil dominated the game and deservedly took their third victory in a row.

 
The game started with a monster shot by Branko Mirkovic, who managed to score from 10 meters and open his account for the tonights game. The Serbian point guard made also an lay-up to set the score to 5:1 in Rilski favour. Galil quickly took the game in their hands, taking their first lead in the game – 6:5, 6:46 before the end of the period.  Branko Mirkovic scored his second 3 pointer in
the game, with 4:45 until the end of the qurter, setting the score to 12:14. Jones tied with a fast move under the basket,  followed by another one lay-up by the American power house. His great defence gave to Galil 4 points lead in the end of the period, as finally after 10 minutes of play the Israeli team were up by 2 – 18:16.

 

The guests started stronger into the second quarter as George Jovanovic  scored the first two points in the period. Yan Martin answered with a basket and a foul. Martin Marinov tied the score to 21:21 with three consecutives free-throws, while Asen Velikov added a superb three-pointer for the guest team. In the 15th minute of the game the score was 24:26, as nobody couldn’t take a lead bigger than 3 points. Romeo Travis scored for 28:26 to give his team a small lead, but after 4 successful free-throws from Rilski, the guest were up once again tonight.
Asen Velikov gave 4 points lead for the Rosen Barchovski’s squad, 51 seconds
before break. In the next offense, Galil’s American duo Romeo Travis and Joseph
Jones made an excellent doble move and set the score to 33:35, with 20 minutes
remaining. Both teams had a bad field goal percentage, as Galil made 12 shots
from 31 attempts, while the guest from Samokov – 12 from 34. The Israeli team
had a huge advantage under the basket, grabbing 24 rebounds, against only 12
for Rilski Sportist.

 
Branko Mirkovic scored the first basket in the period, but it was followed by a 10:0 series from the hosts from Galil. The Israeli team started better in this quarter, being more active on defense and improving their shooting
percentage. Stanislav Vaklinov made a three pointer deducting his team trail to 43:40, with 5 minutes remaining. 4 consecutive successful free throws – 2 from Jones and 2 from Tishman, gave the hosts their bigger lead in the game – 47:40. On the other side Rilski were a little bit upset, as they made a lot of turnovers and unforced errors in these minutes. 1:42 before the end of the period, Romeo Travis helped his team to increase the difference to double digits – 53:42. In the final seconds of the quarter Martin Marinov made an amazing three-pointer under the center field, setting the score to 57:49 for Galil, after 30 minutes on the court.

 

The decisive 10 minutes started with an aggressive play from Galil Gilboa, as the Lior Lubin squad wanted to decided the game early in the period.  During the whole quarter the difference was in double digits, as Rilski Sportist put all their efforts to decrease their trail, but without success.

 

Joseph Jones led his team with 32 points, while Romeo Travis finished with 14 points and 9 rebounds. Christopher Thomas added 8 points and 9 rebounds for the winners. On the other side Filip Vukosavljevic scored 16, while Branko Mirkovic ended with 10 points and 7 assists.