Levski remained unbeaten, Feni still in doubt for the quarterfinals

The defending BIBL champion Feni Industries will need a win in their last game from the regular season against HKK Zrinjski in order to qualify to the quarterfinals, after they lost to Levski tonight in Kavadarci. The final score was 84:91, as Levski achieved their ninth straight win.
 
Vladimir Brchkov made one free-throw, opening the score tonight, but Levski quickly scored four straight points, getting a 1:4 lead, which they extended to five points after a basket by Vassil Evtimov – 3:8 with 6.30 left in the first period. Darko Sokolov scored a three, decreasing the difference to two – 6:8, but Levski once again scored, and remained up by 5 – 6:11. In the following minutes the visiting side managed to break ahead, as Marcus Hall was playing good, and scored a basket for 10:18, which forced Emil Rajkovic to take a time-out with 3.53 remaining. Aaron Harper gave Levski their first double digit lead – 10:20, as their game was clicking on all cylinders in these moments. Feni couldn’t get much closer to Levski, as the best they did was decrease the margin to 7 points, but after 10 minutes the score was 17:26.
 
Things didn’t start in the best possible way for Feni in the second period, as just 1.20 after the start, Levski once again held a 10-point led – 20:30, which they would extend to 22:36, after a 6-2 run in the next two minutes. Marko Simonovski scored a three for 25:36 before Titi Papazov took his first time-out with 5.31 remaining. Goran Samardziev made two free-throws for 27:36, but Hrisimir Dimitrov scored three straight points, giving Levski their double-digit lead back – 27:39. Levski went on a 6-2 run, extending their lead to 16 -  29:45 with 2.52 to go in the half. The visitors made the difference 20 points – 29:49 with 1.32 to go, and at halftime they were up by 16 – 33:49.
 
Feni started the second half motivated, and three minutes into the third quarter they decreased the lead to 12 points after an 8-4 run – 41:53, which forced Titi Papazov to take a time-out with 6.55 left on the clock. The good play from the home team continued after the time-out, as they decreased the margin down to 8 points – 48:56, after baskets by Gocevski, Samardziev and Lilov. Levski took a breathe, after Harper made two free-throws, getting the lead back to double digits – 48:58 with 4.18 left. Darko Radulovki scored three points for 51:58, but Howell and Pavel Ivanov responded for 51:63 with 2.45 to go. After three quarters of play Levski remained ahead – 57:68.

The home side decreased their deficit down to single digits after the start of the last period, as they went on a 9-4 run in the first two and a half minutes of the fourth quarter – 64:72 with 7.30 to go. Feni continued to push, and the difference was down to 4 points – 70:74 with 5.46 to go, before Jarrett Howell made it 70:76. The visitors remained ahead in the following minutes, as they led by 7 points – 72:79, less than four minutes before the end.
 
Feni tightened up their defense, allowing just 4 points in the next two and a half minutes as they scored 8, cutting the deficit down to 3 – 80:83 with 2.06 to go. Aaron Harper scored for 80:85, but Dusan Knezevic answered with a basket for 82:85 with 1.15 left. Jarrett Howell missed a jumper, and on the other side Goran Samardziev scored for 84:85 with 53 seconds to go, as Levski took a time-out immediately. The victory seemed closer for Levski, after Marcus Hall made a three – 84:88 with 42 seconds to go. Ivan Lilov missed a three-pointer, and Marcus Hall made a free-throw for 84:89. Radulovik missed another three-pointer, while Howell was perfect – 2/2 from the FT line, sealing Levski’s win, as this was the final score.
 
Jarrett Howell led Levski, scoring 22 points off the bench. Aaron Harper added 19 points, while Marcus Hall finished the game with 16. Vassil Evtimov had a double-double – 13 points and 16 rebounds, but he also turned the ball over 7 times. Pavel Ivanov added 11 points, as he was perfect from the field, missing only one free-throw.
 
Dusan Knezevic had 17 for Feni, while Jarrid Frye added 14. Darko Radulovik and Zlatko Gocevski had 12 each and Goran Samardziev added 6 points and 9 assists.