Euroins Cherno More one step closer to next round in the Cup of Bulgaria

Euroins Cherno More held on for a 6-point win

06-02-2009 21:11

In the Preliminary Round of the Cup of Bulgaria men`s tournament, one of the big budget teams of the National Basketball League (NBL) - Euroins Cherno More - managed a 75-81 away victory over a Division A (second tier) opponent - Dunav 2007 Ruse. But it wasn`t "a walk in the park" for the visitors from Varna, despite the expectations of an easy win.

The hosts had a great defensive performance against the favourites and made them fight hard to gain any little advantage. Dunav 2007 were also supported by a great home crowd, known for being among the best and most voiciferous in Bulgaria. Euroins Cherno More`s new coach - Serb Predrag Badnjarevic - was constantly rotating his 8 key players and trying out things, capitalizing on his team`s larger experience and tactical awareness. The young and enthusiastic players of Rosen Barchovski (a former Bulgarian national team coach) were lacking in those departments, but made up for it with grit and determination, especially on the defensive end. On the offensive they got a memorable perforamance by ever improving 19 year old guard Ivaylo Kasabov. On the night he completely outplayed Cherno More`s 23 old American prospect Corey McIntosh, who was otherwise the runaway leader of his team in both scoring (18.0 ppg) and assists (4.6 apg) in the NBL, as well as in the Balkan League (27.3 ppg and 4.0 apg respectively).

Tonight young Kasabov had 28 points (on 8/13 shooting from the floor and 12/16 from the foul line), 7 assists and just 2 turnovers, versus McIntosh`s 11 points (4/12 from the floor), 7 assists and 4 turnovers. Yet, the visitors were in front (although never by much) for most of the game time; in fact - for all of the second half, after they had lost the lead on two occasions in the first. In the closing minutes they managed to hold on for the win, despite the valiant effort by Dunav 2007 for a turnaround. The main reason for Cherno More`s success was the fine performance of Brazilian center Atila dos Santos, which made up a bit for a poor one last week in the BIBL game versus Swisslion Takovo. Tonight Santos scored 20 points and just missed his double double, grabbing 9 rebounds.

The second leg of the first round cup tie is at 4.00 PM on Sunday in Varna.

FULL STATS OF THE DUNAV 2007 - EUROINS CHERNO MORE GAME

SCHEDULE AND RESULTS OF THE FIRST ROUND OF MEN CUP OF BULGARIA

INDIVIDUAL STATS OF THE FIRST ROUND OF MEN CUP OF BULGARIA

TEAM STATS OF THE FIRST ROUND OF MEN CUP OF BULGARIA