Levski won the derby in Pleven

Levski beat Spartak (Photo: spartak-basket.com)

22-02-2009 20:16

Levski defeated Spartak Pleven 78-71 in the derby game of this round of the NBL. The win helped "The Blues" stay in second place just behind champions Lukoil Academic, who lost in Samokov yesterday.

The game of Spartak vs Levski was postponed by one day due to the bad weather that caused problems in Balkanstroy hall. The first half was very even with a very low scoring second quarter. In the first 8 minutes of the game both teams traded leads a few times.

Spartak was leading 18-17 with 2'06'' to go in the first quarter but Levski scored the next five points to close it with a 4-point lead.

In the second quarter that margin remained until the 14th minute when Levski pulled ahead 22-29. In the next three and a half minutes the hosts made an 8-0 run that put them ahead once again. Despite that run Levski had the edge at the break, 32-33.

Levski started the second half very aggressively and took a slim advantage. Todor Todorov cut it to 42-46 but then Charlie Jones first dished an assist to Stefan "Toro" Georgiev and then scored himself (a three-pointer) to make the score 42-51. The once again Toro scored, Hrisimir Dimitrov cut the deficit, but Marcus Hall netted two straight baskets for 45-58 in favour of Levski.

The last quarter started at 52-62. The attempts of Spartak were enough only to cut the deficit at times to 3-4 points but nothing more. With a minute to go Levski was ahead 71-74 and Spartak had to commit tactical fouls to stop the clock. The players of Levski scored most of their free throws while the hosts missed their shots and lost the game.

Once again Marcus Hall was the top scorer for Levski with 26 points as he also added 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Stefan Georgiev came close to a double double with 18 points and 9 rebounds.

Iliya Stankov and Sasha Topchov scored 18 points apiece but it was not enough for the hosts.

After the loss Spartak are in 3rd place in the standings with 8 wins and 6 losses, while Levski hold a record of 10-4 and are right behind Lukoil Academic (11-3).