Spartak lose to OKK at home

Spartak Pleven lost their debut game in the Eurohold Balkan League. Darin Velikov`s side suffered a dramatic defeat against OKK Beograd at home, with a final score of 93:94.
 
OKK started the game better, and deservedly led 4:12 in the 4th minute. Spartak continued trailing in the first period, and after 10 minutes the scoreboard showed 24:30 in OKK Beograd`s favor.
 
Until halftime, the two teams changed the lead a couple of times, as finally Spartak was able to turn things around and take a 46:42 lead after the first 20 minutes of play.
 
In the third period things turned in the other way, as OKK Beograd played really strong and took away the lead, which at one point of the game was 73:63 for the guest side.
 
Anyway, all the drama happened in the fourth quarter, less than two minutes before the end. With the score 90:86 for OKK, their head coach Marko Icelic was called for a technical foul. Iliya Stankov scored only one of the free-throws, but the American forward Rob Preston added 5 unanswered points to give Spartak a 92:90 lead. OKK Beograd tied the game 92:92, and in the next possesion Cvetoslav Ostrev was fouled, but only scored one free-throw for a 93:92 Spartak lead. After a time-out, OKK had the last possesion, and Milos Suzic tipped the ball in at the buzzer to seal his team`s win.
 
Rob Preston was the best player for Spartak, finishing with 18 points, 8 rebounds and 1 assist, while Iliya Stankov added 17 points. Hrisimir DImitrov and Alexander Dyakoski scored 10 points each, while Rosen Sofroniev was a great addition off the bench with his 15 points.
 
For OKK Beograd, the hero Milos Suzic scored 24 points. Dragan Kruscic also added 24, while Nikola Lepojevic finished with 19. Stanoje Knezevic was the best player off the Serbian bench with 9 points.