Hapoel tied the series against Rilski at 1-1 after a home win

BC Hapoel Tel Aviv (kobiko photography)

BC Hapoel Tel Aviv defeated BC Rilski Sportist in the second game from the “best of three” quarterfinal play-off series – 84:63 and tied the score at 1-1. The winner of the series will be decided on Thursday, March 29^th in a decisive third game.

Hapoel got off to a great start, after Curtis Kelly scored four consecutive points early in the first, giving his team a 4:0 lead. Rilski took the difference down to two points – 6:4, before Hapoel’s offensive game caught fire. Cory Carr scored for 8:4, as this basket was the start of a 17-0 run for the home side, which would put them ahead by 23:4 with 2.23 to go, when Rosen Barchovski took a time-out. The home team extended their run to 22:0, before Rilski made a basket for 28:6 with around one minute left in the quarter. After 10 minutes of basketball Hapoel Tel Aviv held a commanding 30:6 lead.

The home side continued to dominate after the start of the second period, as three minutes into the quarter they had already extended their lead to 27 points – 38:11 with 6.55 left on the clock. Hristo Zahariev and Filip Vukosavljevic scored for 38:15, but Aviram Zelkovits and Bar Timor made it 42:15 with a little more than five minutes to go. Filip Vukosavljevic mada free-throw for 42:16, but Hapoel’s answer were seven straight points, giving them a 33-point lead – 49:16 with four minutes left. Hapoel slowed down a bit in the next minutes, allowing 9 points in their basket against 4 of their own, still leading – 53:25 with 2.04 to go.Branko Mirkovic made a three for 53:28, but Matan Naor responded for 55:28. Halfway through the game Hapoel were ahead by 28 points – 56:28.

Hapoel extended their lead to 30 points early in the third period – 58:28, but Filip Vukosavljevic was having good minutes and after five points by him and a a basket by Vaklinov, the difference was reduced to 25 – 60:35. Rilski started finding the right rhytm, and reduced the difference to 23 points – 66:43 with 3.07 remaining in the third after good plays by Asen Velikov and Hristo Zahariev.. Asen Velikov made two free-throws for 66:45. Hapoel scored six more points until the end, and after 30 minutes they remained ahead of Rilski Sportist – 71:45.

Rilski Sportist started the fourth quarter with a 6-2 run, decreasing the deficit down to 22 points – 73:51, after a three by Martin Marinov with 6.53 to go. Riletso continued to erase the margin, bringing it down to 19 – 75:56, before Cory Carr and Yonathan Skjoldebrand made it 79:56 with 3.43 left to play. Hapoel managed to break ahead by more than 20 points once again – 84:60 a minute and a half before the end, as after that the final score was settled at 84:63.

Five Hapoel players scored in double digits in the win, led by Demontez Stitt who had 14 points and 8 rebounds. Cory Carr added 13 points and 11 rebounds, Yonathan Skjoldebrand and Matan Naor had 12 points each, while Curtis Kelly also added a double-double – 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Hristo Zahariev and Filip Vukosavljevic scored 16 points each for Rilski Sportist, while Martin Marinov added 12, coming off the bench.

The third decisive game will be played on Thursday, March 29^th once again in Hadar Yosef in Tel Aviv.

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