Levski edge Rilski Sportist to make it to the Bulgarian Cup final

In a tightly contested and dramatic semifinal of the Cup of Bulgaria Levski (already out of the BIBL) defeated BIBL Final Four participant (and host) Rilski Sportist by 77-75 and made it through to Sunday`s final in Pleven.   It was very close in the first 13 minutes of the game, with Rilski having the slight edge. Then Levski had the upper hand during the 2nd and 3rd quarter, at times leading by 12 points. But, despite being quite tired from another thrilling battle - the quarterfinal versus Balkan the previous night, the Rilski Sportist players somehow found guts and inner strenght to launch a come-back. It was successfull for a while, as they used a 9-point run in the middle of the 4th quarter to lead for the first time since the 1st - 58-61. Then Levski led again (64-61), Rilski tied the scores at 72-72, but in a crazy final minute of the game Levski prevailed - 77-75.   American guard Charles Jones scored the most points for the winning side, despite a series of misses from behind the arc, after he had initially gone 3 for 4. Then it became 3/10, but a clutch three-pointer in the closing minutes made it 4-11 and a total of 18 points for him. He also grabbed 10 rebounds and dished 4 assists. Center Stefan "Toro" Georgiev was peforming very well using his stronger frame versus Rilski Sportist star player Travis Peterson, before he was ejected for 5 fouls early in the 4th quarter. Yet, Georgiev finished with a double-double too - 10 points and 10 boards. But his brother Zlatin "Goldie" Georgiev was the real hero for Levski, as he excelled in the 4th quarter and especially the decisive minutes, when he scored most of his points to finish with 15 under his belt.   Rilski Sportist guard Branko Mirkovic was the top scorer of the game but that didn`t help his team at the end. Mirkovic had 26 points, Peterson and Ivan Lilov netted 13 each, while Dragoslav Papic and veteran Leven Belberov had 10 and 8 respectively, the latter off the bench.   On Sunday at 18.00 Levski faces champion and favorite Lukoil Academic in the final of the Cup of Bulgaria, while Saturday`s 3/4 place game (at 18.00 as well) matches Rilski Sportist versus competition hosts Spartak Pleven.