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Rilski Sportist won the all-Bulgarian encounter
Peterson and Lilov combined for 43 points
05-11-2008 19:55
Rilski Sportist and Levski faced each other for the second time in 10 days and this time it was the team from Samokov, who came out on top. On 25 October Levski won a Bulgarian National Basketball League game by an impressive 124-103, but tonight in front of their home supporters Rilski got their revenge - 95-91. Once again it was an attractive to watch, high scoring affair (although not quite treble digit for any of the two teams that time). There were many great attacking plays and lightning fast breaks, with only the defensive aspect of the game suffering a bit.
Levski started agressively in defense though and quickly led 0-4, only to have the scores levelled at 4-4. Hosts Rilski Sportist never (not in the first half at least) quite managed to turn it around and lead. They had a few key players ruled out of the game with injuries and had started with three big men upfront (Peterson, Papic and Vaklinov), so that probably meant the home team was not as quick as the visitors during those minutes. Levski established and maintained a three point lead and then, with less than 4 minutes left of the first period, extended it with American guard Marcus Hall scoring his 6-th point of the game to make it 9-14. Then his compatriot, forward Dwayne Morton had a strong few minutes too and their team`s advantage was even up to 8 points - 10-18.
Some good shooting from downdown though quickly got Rilski back into the game, culminating in Papic`s lucky three-pointer with the buzzer to end the first quarter all square at 22-22.
Then both teams started to run and score at will, first on the fast break and then from long range. After they exchanged treys (youngster Pavel Ivanov for Levski and another substitute - Ivan Nikolov - for the hosts) the scores were already up to 29-29 after just 3 minutes of play in the second. Levski was always the team that led by a few points and Rilski was the one that had to catch up. The margin never became as big as in the first half though. It was level at 43-43 just before half-time, when Rilski Sportist forward Saraliyski was blocked and Velikov made a lay-up on the break for Levski to lead 43-45 after 20 minutes of play.
At the start of the third period youngster Stanislav Vaklinov soon commited his 5-th foul and had to go. Rilski Sportist were not too bothered though, as one of their aother two starting big men - Travis Peterson - had just started his second half scoring feast. In fact, during these minutes it was a scoring feast for both teams, as they repeated what they did at the start of the second. Rilski were especially prolific though and they soon led for the first time in the game - 54-51, and then even 56-51. A trey by shooting guard Ivan Lilov took his team`s advantage to 6 points (64-58). He and especially Peterson were great in offense during the whole of that third period. The scoring efforts of those two, combined with some good defensive plays of the home team near the end of the period, led to a 8-0 run and a margin of 10 points in favour of Rilski Sportist at the start of the last quarter - 74-64.
Things were looking good for coach Aleksandar Todorov`s team, as they had scored 31 points in the previous quarter and 5 of their players were already into double figures with almost 9 minutes to go. Yet, the Levski players weren`t about to surrender and they scored in 4 consecutive possessions to bring the difference down to 4 points - 77-73. That was the moment when both team`s post players went "crazy", hitting the target from the arc 3 times in a matter of 24 seconds - Peterson and Papic for the hosts and, in between - Morton for Levski. Having just "found" his shooting range, Peterson used it to score twice in the crucial final minutes - first a trey for 86-78 with less than 3` to go and then a 20-footer for 88-82, with just over a minute to go. That just about decided the outcome of the game and, although Levski coach Titi Papazov tried the typical "tactical fouls" scheme in the dying seconds, his team never came close to a dramatic turn around. A last second three-pointer by Hall only served to boost his personal total up to 29 points and bring down his teams losing margin to 4.
Marcus Hall might have led the scorers, but it was Travis Peterson that was undoubtedly the MVP of the game. He finished not only with 25 points (19 of them in the second half), but also impressive totals of 7 assists, 4 blocks and 3 steals, as well as a double double with 10 rebounds. Ivan Lilov added 18 points for the winning team, while Serbs Branko Mirkovic and Dragoslav Papic had 16 apiece.
Levski had two players (other than Hall) scoring into double figures - Dwayne Morton (17) and powerful center Vasil Evtimov (19), with the latter gabbing some 16 rebounds.
FULL STATS OF THE RILSKI SPORTIST - LEVSKI GAME
Levski started agressively in defense though and quickly led 0-4, only to have the scores levelled at 4-4. Hosts Rilski Sportist never (not in the first half at least) quite managed to turn it around and lead. They had a few key players ruled out of the game with injuries and had started with three big men upfront (Peterson, Papic and Vaklinov), so that probably meant the home team was not as quick as the visitors during those minutes. Levski established and maintained a three point lead and then, with less than 4 minutes left of the first period, extended it with American guard Marcus Hall scoring his 6-th point of the game to make it 9-14. Then his compatriot, forward Dwayne Morton had a strong few minutes too and their team`s advantage was even up to 8 points - 10-18.
Some good shooting from downdown though quickly got Rilski back into the game, culminating in Papic`s lucky three-pointer with the buzzer to end the first quarter all square at 22-22.
Then both teams started to run and score at will, first on the fast break and then from long range. After they exchanged treys (youngster Pavel Ivanov for Levski and another substitute - Ivan Nikolov - for the hosts) the scores were already up to 29-29 after just 3 minutes of play in the second. Levski was always the team that led by a few points and Rilski was the one that had to catch up. The margin never became as big as in the first half though. It was level at 43-43 just before half-time, when Rilski Sportist forward Saraliyski was blocked and Velikov made a lay-up on the break for Levski to lead 43-45 after 20 minutes of play.
At the start of the third period youngster Stanislav Vaklinov soon commited his 5-th foul and had to go. Rilski Sportist were not too bothered though, as one of their aother two starting big men - Travis Peterson - had just started his second half scoring feast. In fact, during these minutes it was a scoring feast for both teams, as they repeated what they did at the start of the second. Rilski were especially prolific though and they soon led for the first time in the game - 54-51, and then even 56-51. A trey by shooting guard Ivan Lilov took his team`s advantage to 6 points (64-58). He and especially Peterson were great in offense during the whole of that third period. The scoring efforts of those two, combined with some good defensive plays of the home team near the end of the period, led to a 8-0 run and a margin of 10 points in favour of Rilski Sportist at the start of the last quarter - 74-64.
Things were looking good for coach Aleksandar Todorov`s team, as they had scored 31 points in the previous quarter and 5 of their players were already into double figures with almost 9 minutes to go. Yet, the Levski players weren`t about to surrender and they scored in 4 consecutive possessions to bring the difference down to 4 points - 77-73. That was the moment when both team`s post players went "crazy", hitting the target from the arc 3 times in a matter of 24 seconds - Peterson and Papic for the hosts and, in between - Morton for Levski. Having just "found" his shooting range, Peterson used it to score twice in the crucial final minutes - first a trey for 86-78 with less than 3` to go and then a 20-footer for 88-82, with just over a minute to go. That just about decided the outcome of the game and, although Levski coach Titi Papazov tried the typical "tactical fouls" scheme in the dying seconds, his team never came close to a dramatic turn around. A last second three-pointer by Hall only served to boost his personal total up to 29 points and bring down his teams losing margin to 4.
Marcus Hall might have led the scorers, but it was Travis Peterson that was undoubtedly the MVP of the game. He finished not only with 25 points (19 of them in the second half), but also impressive totals of 7 assists, 4 blocks and 3 steals, as well as a double double with 10 rebounds. Ivan Lilov added 18 points for the winning team, while Serbs Branko Mirkovic and Dragoslav Papic had 16 apiece.
Levski had two players (other than Hall) scoring into double figures - Dwayne Morton (17) and powerful center Vasil Evtimov (19), with the latter gabbing some 16 rebounds.
FULL STATS OF THE RILSKI SPORTIST - LEVSKI GAME
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