Valuable home win for Rilski Sportist

Rilski Sportist achieved an valuable home win against Lovcen in Samokov. Aleksandar Todorov`s squad won tonight`s game in Arena Samokov by 5 points of difference - 74:69. Rob Preston made his debut for Rileco in tonight`s game.
 
Tonight`s win makes Rilski Sportist almost 100% sure for their participation in the next phase of the EUROHOLD Balkan League.
 
The home team started off strong, getting a quick 5:0 lead after baskets by Bogdan Boev and Travis Peterson. Lovcen started to erase the difference, and after 4 minutes of play the score was tied at 9:9. Both teams changed the lead couple of times until the end of the first period, but  less than a minute ago Bogdan Boev gave Rilski a 23:17 lead, but Damjan Kandic responded with a three to settle the score at 23:20 after 10 minutes.
 
Another three-pointer by Kandic early in the second tied the score at 23:23, before Jane Petrovski gave Rilski a 25:23 lead with 9.10 minutes to go until halftime. After this basket, both teams weren`t able to score for more than two and half minutes, when Aleksa Popovic tied the score at 25:25. That was the start of a 10:0 run for Lovcen, which gave them a 25:33 lead with 5 minutes to go. The Montenegrin squad continued to lead, but a dunk by Simo Naydenov and 2 made free-throws by Sasho Gruev made the difference only 2 points at halftime - 35:37.
 
Rileco started the third period with a 8:2 run which gave them the lead once again - 43:39 with 7.42 to go. Rilski kept their lead between 2 and 4 points, when Bogdan Boev scored 6 points in a row to make the score 55:48 for the home team. After 30 minutes Rilski were ahead 55:50.
 
Lovcen tied the score at 55:55 early in the fourth period, before Rob Preston and David Burgess gave them a 60:55 lead with 6.40 to go. Travis Peterson made a dunk with 5.14 on the clock to make the lead 8 points. Lovcen managed to erase their losing to just two points (65:63) after a 6 to nothing run. Rob Preston made two important free-throws and a dunk after that with less than two minutes until the end, and Simeon Naydenov sealed the win with a three-pointer 36 seconds before the end. Aleksa Popovic just fixed the score at 74:69 by making a jumper.
 
Bogdan Boev scored 19 points for Rilski Sportist, as he shot 8/9 for 2 points. David Burgess added 13 points and six rebounds for the win, while the other two Americans  also had a good game. Travis Peterson finished with 8 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks, while Rob Preston added 9 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals. Aleksandar Gruev added 9 points and 7 assists.
 
For the visiting team, Marko Milosevic was the top scorer with 12 points, while Nikola Ivanovic added 11 and 5 rebounds. Three other players scored 10 points each - Aleksa Popovic, Vladimir Boracic and Damjan Kandic.