Gruev′s buzzer beater gives Rilski dramatic win against Mures

BC Rilski Sportist achieved an important home win in their last game of the 2010/2011 EUROHOLD Balkan League regular season that was played in Arena Samokov. The 2009 BIBL champions defeated in a dramatic match BC Mures 85:83 and now can be sure for their participation in the quarterfinals of the competition.   Dwight Lewis scored the first basket of the game giving Mures a 0:2 lead, but Rileco answered with a strong 10:0 run finished by Mijovic, which gave them a 8-point lead. However Mures responded with seven unanswered points, dropping down the difference to only a single point - 10:9. The Romanian side played better in the first and quickly they turned things around and leading the game 13:20 with 2.54 to go. After the first quarter BC Mures had a 20:22 lead.   The guest team couldn′t break away with a bigger lead in the begining of the second period. Vladimir Mijovic scored for 27:29 with 5.16 to go in the half, and a bit after that Martin Marinov scored a three to decrease the difference to just one point - 30:31. Mures responded with a 5 to nothing run, as all the points were scored by Nicholas Covington and the score was 30:36. Csaba Deri′s team continued to break ahead of their opposition and two times had a 9-point lead, before both teams settled for 40:43 at halftime.   After the halftime break Rilski quickly tied the game at 45:45. Covington and Dumitru scored baskets for Mures in order for their team to lead 50:53. Lilov tied the game at 53 a piece and after that it was Aleksandar Radojevic′s time, as he scored two baskets in a row to make the score 59:55. It seemed like Mures were suffering in the third and Rilski led the game 75:64 after 30 minutes.   In the decisive fourth quarter, the visitors started strong with six unanswered points bringing the gap down to just five poitns - 75:70. However Lilov and Mijovic scored in two consecutive offenses making the difference 80:70 with 6.14 to go. Mures decreased their losing to five points (82:77)m and after that they continued to get closer to Rilski, as Covington scored for 82:81 with less than a minute to go. The American point guard gave his team an 82:83 lead with 2.8 seconds left after scoring an amazing basket, but after a time-out for Rileco and a perfect inbound of the ball Aleksandar Gruev scored a three, after being left completely open and gave his team teh 85:83 win.   The game was officiated by Aleksandar Glisic and Uros Oberknezevic from Serbia and also by Hatim Alharbi from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.   Ivan Lilov scored 21 points for Rilski in their winning effort, Aleksandar Gruev came off the bench with 19 and Vladimir Mijovic added 15. Bogdan Boev finished with 10 points.   Nicholas Covington led BC Mures with 30 points, shooting 5/6 for three points. Dwight Lewis had 16 points and 7 rebounds, while Aleksandar Mladenovic had a double-doubled with 15 points and 12 boards, also adding 3 blocked shots.   This win moved Rilski up to the second spot as they are now with a 4-3 balance and are going through to the quarterfinals. In their last game they are visiting Mornar. Mures now have a balance of 2-4 with two games to go - away at Balkan and at home against Mornar.