Balkan with their first BIBL win after beating Rilski

BC Balkan Botevgrad achieved their first ever win in the EUROHOLD Balkan League, after defeating the 2009 champions from the competition BC Rilski Sportist 71:65 at home. Around 700 fans showed great support for Balkan in the Sports Complex in Pravets.
 
Rilski scored the first basket of the game, as Dragomir Marojevic gave them a 0:2 lead. Georgi Davidof finished a break-away Balkan 12:2 run, which gave his side a 12:4 lead, which forced Aleksandar Todorov to take a time-out. Rilski quickly answered with a seven to nothing run, reducing Balkan′s lead to only 1 point - 12:11 with 2.28 remaining. Both teams traded a couple of baskets to set things up at 16:15 after the first period.
 
Josh Gonner gave Balkan a 18:15 lead early in the second, before Simeon Tsenov tied things up at 18:18. Rilski started playing better and were up 24:27 after Dragomir Marojevic concluded a 6:9 run for his team. Gonner made two free throws to give Balkan a 30:27 lead, which was followed by a 7:2 series from the home team, who were ahead 37:32 after 20 minutes of play.
 
Rilski Sportist had a better start of the second half and tied the score at 39:39 after a 2:7 run. Davidov gave his team a 41:39 lead, but in the next couple of minutes both teams exchanged four three-pointers (two each) to make the score 47:45. Neither team could break away with a bigger lead, and after Bogdan Boev missed a three-pointer with the buzzer, the third period was over as the score was 53:52 for Balkan.
 
The last quarter was started better by Rilski Sportist,and they led the game 55:56 after baskets by Marinov and Vaklinov. The game was tied at 57 with 6.14 remaining, and from that point both teams started rushing things and making nervous plays. Ivan Lilov gave Rileco a 60:62 lead, before Bozov tied the game at 62:62. Rileco took a time-out with less than 3 minutes to go and 64:62 for Balkan, andJosh Gonner made an 8-second violation. Davidov gave his team a 4 point lead - 66:62 with 1.51 to go, before Karadjovski decreased it to 66:64 with 1.10 remaining. Dwayne Morton scored a free-throw (67:64) and Aleksandar Gruev turned the ball over in Rilski′s next offense with 36 seconds left. Yordan Bozov commited a foul while his team was inbounding the ball, but Stanislav Vaklinov scored only one free throw (67:65). Georgi Davidov and Dwayne Morton didn′t miss from the foul line, to seal their team′s 71:65 win.

Former Rilski Sportist player Georgi Davidov scored 17 points for the winners, while Lubomir Lilov added 13.
 
For Rilski Ivan Lilov scored as much as his brother - 13, while Dimitar Karadjovski, Dragomir Marojevic and Stanislav Vaklinov had 12 each.

That was Balkan′s first win in the EUROHOLD Balkan League, and they now have a 1-1 balance and 3 points in Group B, while Rilski Sportist are 1-2 with 4 points.