Galil Gilboa finished in a winning manner, defeating OKK in Belgrade

OKK Beograd and Galil Gilboa finished the regular season in Group A of the 2011/2012 EUROHOLD Balkan League with their game tonight in Belgrade. The two times played an interesting and good game of basketball, as the outcome was decided in the last minutes, as it was Galil Gilboa who took the 71:74 victory.
 
Yan Martin scored the first basket tonight, giving Galil Gilboa a 0:3 lead, but OKK responded with a quick three by Stanoje Knezevic for 3:3 with just 10 seconds played in Sport EKO Gym. The visitors managed to break ahead first, as they held a 5:9 lead with 6.36 remaining. OKK reduced their deficit to 2 points (9:11), but Galil Gilboa went on an 11-2 run, getting their first double-digit lead of the night – 11:21 with 2.12 left in the quarter. Stanoje Knezevic and Nenad Misanovic scored for OKK, while Ido Kozikaro made one free-throw for Galil, and the first quarter finished with the score of
16:22.
 
Galil Gilboa started the second period with six unanswered points, after 2 points by Ido Kozikaro and 4 by Ofir Fahri, increasing their lead to 12 points – 16:28 with 6.08 remaining in the first half. OKK Beograd responded with 13 points over the next four minutes, against just 3 for Galil Gilboa, cutting the lead to single digits – 29:31 with around two minutes left. OKK were playing strong, as they didn’t let Galil break away again, and halfway through the game the score was 33:37, after OKK won the second quarter 17:15.
 
OKK enjoyed a great start of the second half, as Vuk Malidzan scored five points in a row, and Stanoje Knezevic added two, making a 7-0 run in less than a minute, leading the game 40:37. Galil quickly got the lead back, as Christopher Thomas and Dagan Yivzori scored for 40:41. OKK however once again found themselves ahead, as Mirko Kovac scored for 49:48, before Ido Kozikaro gave Galil a 49:50 lead, which they extended to 51:53 after 30 minutes of play.
 
However it was OKK Beograd who had the lead early in the fourth quarter, as they led 58:55 with 7.52 to go, as they made a 7-2 run. Galil Gilboa were on the move, scoring eight straight points in the next three and a half minutes, and getting a 58:63 lead. Dragan Mitrovic made two free-throws for 60:63, but Gilboa scored five unanswered points and led 60:68 with 3 minutes to go. It was OKK’s turn now, as they also scored four straight points, trailing only by 4 – 64:68 with 2.22 left.
 
Courtney Fells scored a jumper and added a free-throw for 64:71, but Misanovic made it 66:71. Mirko Kovac scored a three for 69:71 with 1.27 remaining. Courtney Fells was fouled and made one of two free-throws for 69:72, but Dragan Mitrovic answered with a basket for 71:72, 11 seconds before the end. OKK had to foul, so Christopher Thomas made two free-thrwos for 71:74. Mirko Kovac missed a three after the time out by Vlado Djurovic, and everything was finished at 71:74.
 
Courtney Fells led Galil Gilboa with 21 points in the win. Dagan Yivzori added 16 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds, while Ido Kozikaro finished with 10 points.
Stanoje Knezevic had 17 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals for OKK Beograd. Mirko Kovac was the only other player to finish with more than 10 points, as he had 13. Three other players finished with 9 points each – Nenad Misanovic (7 rebounds and 6 blocks), Vuk Malidzan (8 assists) and Dragan Mitrovic (5 assists).
 
This was Galil Gilboa’s ninth victory in the EUROHOLD Balkan League, as they finished on top of Group A with 9 wins and 1 loss. OKK Beograd ended up on the fifth position with 2 wins and 8 losses.