Levski won the derby against Hapoel

           Bulgarian runner-up and former EUROHOLD BIBL champion Levski registered second win in the regular season of EUROHOLD Balkan League. Titi Papazov′s squad attained a victory on a difficult home game against Hapoel Tel Aviv - 85:78. The Blues showed 2 totally different faces in the tonights game, as after a superb first half they found a lot of troubles in the second. On the other side Hapoel played

good game, but the short bench and the fatigue were decisive in the last minutes. The game had big importance for both sides, as if Hapoel managed to take the victory, probably at 90% they could secure the first place in the group only after 3 games. With these success Levski are now on 2-0 record, while Hapoel are on 2-1. The game for Levski missed the experienced center Vassil Evtimov , who probably will signed a contract with a foreign club.
  
          The game started better for the host from Sofia, who won the first quarter with 5 points - 25:20. During the opener period Levski were feeling really comfortable, taking the lead from the first minute. On the other side Hapoel tried
to stay closer to their opponents, but Aaron Harper and Dimitar Anguelov are
simply unstoppable for them.  In the second period, Titi Papazov`s side continued to dominate the game, as the difference climbed to double digit in the 15^th minute – 38:28 in their favour. After 20:15, Bulgarian team were up by 9 points at halftime - 45:36. In this quarter a great performance except Harper, showed the veteran
Corry Carr, purging his reputation of a born fighter on the court. After 30 minutes
of play the score was 62:59, as the guest from Tel Aviv managed to decrease their trail, as everything was going to be decided in the fourth quarter. The last period turned out to be really interesting, as Hapoel quickly opened their account with a lay-up of Carr, droping the lead of Levski to only 1 point.  Both teams missed a
lot of free throws during the last quarter, but Levski were more focused and precise
in the decisive last 5 minutes, while Hapoel players probably affected by the
fatigue failed to follow their opponents in the end didn′t managed to take their second victory in the EUROHOLD Balkan League this week and to remained
unbeaten. The final score was set to 85:78 from Marcus Hall, who made 3 out of 4 free throws in the last 20 seconds.

 

         In the next round, on 9^th of November Levski need to travel far away to Ulcinj, facing the local team. Hapoel  have already played their game of the third round against Feni Industries, so the Israeli team are going to host KK Ulcinj in Hadar Yosef Hall on 24^th of November.

         Aaron Harper was the most efficient player on the court tonight, as Levski′s forward impressed with 20 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Hrisimir Dimitrov finished with 13 points, 8 boards and 4 assists, while Dimitar Anguelov scored 14 for the winners. Three other players scored more than 10 points for the hosts from Sofia – Marcus Hall, Pavel Ivanov and the newcomer Justin Eller.

 

        Jonathan Skjoldebrand  registered 21 points and 6 rebounds for Hapoel. American combo Curtis Kelly and Demontez Stitt nailed 18 points and 8 rebounds each, while Corry Carr added 14, along with 5 assists.