Hapoel Tel Aviv sealed the second spot after beating Feni at home

BC Hapoel Tel Aviv sealed the second spot in Group B of the 2011/2012 EUROHOLD Balkan League regular season, after beating the defending champion KK Feni Industries 83:76 at home in Hadar Yosef. With this win Hapoel improved their balance to 6-2, while Feni are at the 50% mark - 4-4.
 
Hapoel led 3:0 early in the first, before Goran Samardziev made it 3:3 with a long-distance jumpshot. However Hapoel extended their lead to 9:3 with 6.47 to go, before Ivan Lilov scored for 9:6. The home team went on a 10-0 run in the next almost three minutes, leading the game 19:6 with 3.54 to go.  Vladimir Brchkov scored for 19:9, and Zlatko Gocevski scored after that bringing the gap down to single digits - 19:11. Ivan Lilov scored for 19:13 but Hapoel answered with six points until the end against two for Feni, and they once again were up by double digits - 25:15 after 10 minutes.
 
Feni managed to cut the lead to single digits a few times early in the second quarter, but Hapoel always bounced right back and they held a 31:21 lead with 6.10 left before halftime. Kiril Nikolovski and Matan Naor traded baskets and the home side remained ahead - 34:24 with around five minutes left. Hapoel were ahed 39:26 with 3.36 left, before Feni scored four in a row, cutting the difference to 39:30 with 2.05 to go. Halfway through the game Hapoel remained with a 9-point lead - 44:35 after 20 minutes.
 
Hapoel started the second half good, extending their lead to 13 points - 48:35. They remained ahead by double digits before Kiril Nikolovski and Ivan Lilov managed to cut Feni′s deficit down to seven points - 52:45 with 5.59 left in the third. The home team was still ahead by a comfortable margin, and they didn′t look like letting the lead go. After 30 minutes there wasn′t any change - Hapoel Tel Aviv led by 9 points (62:53).
 
Feni managed to bring their deficit down to six points after the start of the fourth period, and it remained that way - Hapoel led 66:60 with 6.38 remaining. Ivan Lilov would make two free-throws for 66:62, but Cory Carr responded with a basket for 68:62. Dusan Knezevic started a 7-0 run for Feni, which was finished by him and the score was 68:69 for Feni with four minutes to go. Cory Carr made it 70:69 and Yonathan Skjoldebrand added two more points for Hapoel - 72:69. The home side extended their lead to 78:71 with 52 seconds to go, but Feni still had something left. Hapoel led 80:73 with 55 seconds to go.
 
Zlatko Gocevski scoreda three for 80:76 and Cory Carr turned the ball over, keeping hope alive for Feni. However Demontez Stitt and Curtis Kelly sealed Hapoel′s win, settling the score at 83:76.
 
Once again Curtis Kelly was the top perfomer for Hapoel - 20 points, 8 rebounds and 2 steals. Demontez Stitt and Cory Carr added 16 points each, while Matan Naor finished with 12 points, 2 blocks and 1 steal.
 
Ivan Lilov and Kiril Nikolovski scored 17 points each for Feni. Lilov also added 7 rebounds and 3 assists to his stats. Dusan Knezevic had 13 points and 8 rebounds, while Zlatko Gocevski added 11 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists, coming off the bench.