Lukoil basket-show in Sofia

Lukoil Academic won it’s consecutive game with a huge point difference. And this time, in order to make it more interesting, the Students killed not some poor Bulgarian team, but the german vice-champion – Artland Dragons. The difference was amazing for an ULEB Cup game – 44 points, 109-65.
After playing really bad in their first game in Riga, now the champions were in their fury, showing all of their amazing basketball skills. In the first quarter it became clear, that Lukoil won’t hav any problems, after their scored 32 points and showed some really nice field goal percentage.
Artland was close to the Students just for a few minutes. After leading the score 8-9, the Dragons fell asleep and the home side responded with a 18-0 run, and took control of the things on the court. At halftime, the difference in Academic’s favor was plus 21, and the only question was what will be the margin at the end of regulation. This time, Lukoil Academic didn’t let their aggressive defense break through, and after being more aggressive in the second half, the difference grew up to 40 points. 
Lukoil’s latest signing – American playmaker Willie Deane, who was the motor of the team in the beginning and had a great contribution to the great difference in the result. The 27-year old guard arrived on Saturday, but that didn’t stop him for turning into the leader that was missing for Lukoil, after just two days in Bulgaria’s capital. He finished the game with 16 points, 12 assists and 3 steals. Fantastic game for Pero Antic with 24 points, Nenad Canak with 23, Donta Smith with 16 and Riste Stefanov and Murilo Da Rosa, who finished with 12 each. 
The only minus in this brilliant Lukoil Academic game was the contribution of the Bulgarian players on the team – just 3 points, scored by the captain Todor Stoykov, who played just 8 minutes.. Chavdar Kostov didn’t manage to score a basket, and Banev, Zafirov and Hristov didn’t get a chance from Zeljko Lukajic, besides the big difference in the result. But that’s normal, in games like this you try to get a bigger result, and you play serious until the last second, and besides that the team, who finishes fourth, will probably have it’s goal difference to be better in order to go through. This win put back on line the chances for the Students to finish with success their ULEB campaign and go through to the next round. 
 
The guests started the game with big desire, and even if they tried to come back in the game a few times, they were totally outplayed by Lukoil. Their defense looked funny against the home side, who was exactly on fire, from everywhere on the field. Their head coach will surely have some video to watch this week. The defense of the “Americans from Germany” didn’t cause any trouble to some of Academic’s players to play for the great fans. They had some really attractive combinations, and also shot great – they mad 12 out of 27 attempts from beyond the arc. No one saw the missed free throws today.
 
Just two of the Americans managed to score in double digits – Lamont McIntosh, who impressed with his jumpshot, and Terrance Thomas both scored 11 points Lukoil got 21 rebounds more (45-21) and dished out 20 assists more than the German vice-champions (30-10). Right after the game everybody was asking the question, why did this good team slept during their game in Riga last week, against a team, that is not better than our side.  This is Lukoil Academic’s biggest victory in the European club competitions since 1974, when the Students crushed Berkane Tangier from Morroco with 112-53, as at this time Morroco had participants in FIBA Europe   The next task in Lukoil’s calendar is a tough away game in Treviso, against Benneton, and the German side is playing at home against ASK Riga. Both games are next Tuesday.
 
FULL STATS FROM THE GAME LUKOIL ACADEMIC - ARTLAND DRAGONS