Rilski Sportist handed Galil Gilboa their first loss of the season

BC Rilski Sportist, the 2011 EUROHOLD Balkan League runner-up handed BC Galil Gilboa their first loss of the season in the BIBL, after they defeated them 72:70 in front of their hometown fans in Arena Samokov.
 
Rilski Sportist got off to a great start and after a three by Ante Bilobrk and a basket from Filip Vukosavljevic quickly got a 5:0 lead early in the game. Romeo Travis scored for 5:2 with 7.30 left and that was the start of a 7-0 run by Galil Gilboa, which gave them a 5:7 lead 6.47 before the end of the first. The score was tied at 7:7 and at 9:9 before Romeo Travis gave Gilboa a 9:11 lead with 3.40 left. Mirkovic scored for 12:11, but Allen responded with a basket for 12:13. Rilski made a run of 6-0 in the next minutes and led 18:13 with 2.27 to go. After 10 minutes the home sied maintained their lead - 25:19.
 
Gilboa scored the first 5 points in the second quarter, decreasing Rilski′s lead to just one point - 25:24, before Martin Marinov made a three for 28:24 with 6.21 left in the half. Galil Gilboa manached to get closer to their opposition, cutting their deficit to just 2 points - 29:27, less than five minutes before halftime. Martin Marinov made his second three-pointer, giving Rilski a 32:27 lead, but until the end of the quarter the home team didn′t manage to score, while their opponent scored 5 points in order to tie the score at halftime - 32:32.
 
Rilski got their led back right after halftime - 36:34, before Dagan Yivzori made it 36:37 with a three-pointer. Joseph Jones made a free-throw for 36:38, but Martin Marinov tied the game at 38:38. Rilski scored six points in the next three minutes against just one for their opponent, and they led by 5 - 44:39 with 4.42 left to play in the third. Rilski kept their lead, as they were ahead 49:45 with two minutes to go after a three by Branko Mirkovic. Ido Kozikaro made it 49:47, and Yan Martin added a three, to give Galil Gilboa the lead - 49:50 after 30 minutes.
 
The visiting side managed to keep their momentum after the start of the fourth quarter and extended their lead to four points - 53:57 with 6.42 to go. Nimrod Tishman made it 53:59 which forced Rosen Barchovski to take a timeout. Branko Mirkovic scored for 55:59, but Avishai Gordon added a three for 55:62 with less than five minutes to go. Branko Mirkovic decreased the difference to 58:62, two minutes and forty nine seconds before the end. Ido Kozikaro made one free-throw and Yan Martin scored a two-pointer, extending Gilboa′s led to 58:65 with 1.28 left.
 
Asen Velikov scored a three, keeping Rilski′s hope alive - 61:65 with 1.02 left, and after that Yan Martin missed a shot. However Filip Vukosavljevic turned the ball over 31 seconds before the end, but after Asen Velikov made his fifth personal fou, Galil Gilboa scored only one free-throw, while Branko Mirkovic made a three on the other end - 64:66. Nimrod Tishman commited a turnover with 21 seconds to go, and after that Filip Vukosavljevic was fouled and tied the game at 66:66. In the following moments Mirkovic was called with an unsporsmanlike foul, but Christopher Thomas made only two of four free-throws - 66:68, before Mirkovic made a three for 69:68 with 10.3 seconds left.
 
Ido Kozikaro travelled, which allowed Rilski to score two more points - 71:68 after Filip Vukosavljevic shot 2/2 from the FT line with 5 seconds left. Avishai Gordon made two free-throws - 71:70 with 1.7 seconds to go, but Hristo Zahariev made one free-throw with 1.5 seconds to go, giving Rilski their 72:70 win. Branko Mirkovic led Rilski with 21 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Hristo Zahariev added 13 points and 7 rebounds, while Filip Vukosavljevic had 11 points, 11 rebounds and was fouled 11 times. Asen Velikov added 10 points for the win.   Christopher Thomas scored 13 points for Galil Gilboa, while Joseph Jones added 13 along with 5 rebounds.   Galil Gilboa remained on top of Group A with a balance of 5 wins and 1 loss, while Rilski are third with 4 wins and 2 losses.