NBL Round 1 (Regular Season): Akademik hold off Beroe

The Regular Season in NBL just started. Here is the last round review presented by Job Market.

Akademik defeated Beroe in Plovdiv 90-86. Great defensive blocking was one of the keys in this match when Akademik made 7 blocks. Worth to mention a great performance of the former international Nikolay Mihaylov (204-2000, agency: BIG) who helped to win the game recording a double-double by scoring 23 points and 14 rebounds. American point guard DQ Nicholas (185-2000, college: Gardner-Webb) contributed with 20 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists for the winners. American guard Jordan Rawls (188-2001, college: NM State) answered with 16 points and 9 assists for Beroe. Beroe's coach Daniel Klechkov rotated ten players in this game, but that didn't help. Beroe will play next round against Lokomotiv Pl. trying to get back on the winning streak. Akademik will try to continue on its current victory against Minyor 2015 in Pernik.
The most crucial game of the last round was a loss of Shumen in Pernik. Visitors were rolled over by Minyor 2015 123-101. International forward Georgi Boyanov (200-1993, college: USA) stepped up and scored 30 points and 8 rebounds for the winners and Jermaine Head chipped in 21 points and 8 assists. At the losing side Nigerian-American guard Mike Adewunmi (198-1999, college: UTRGV) responded with 26 points. The winner was already known earlier in the game, so both coaches allowed to play the bench players saving starting five for next games. Minyor 2015 will play against Akademik in Plovdiv in the next round and it will be for sure the game of the week. Shumen will play at home against Botev and it may be a tough game between close rivals.
An interesting game was also a 25-point tough home loss of Botev in a game in Vratsa versus undefeated Balkan 91-66. Aleksandar Stoimenov nailed 18 points and 5 rebounds for the winning side. Balkan's coach Bogdan Karaicic felt very confident that he used 10 players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. Mark Freeman came up with 30 points and 4 steals for Botev in the defeat. Balkan will meet at home Levski in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Botev will play against Shumen and hope to win that game.

Other games in round 1 were not that significant. Rilski smashed Yambol on the road 96-64. CSKA won against Polytechnica on its own court 100-95. Lokomotiv Pl. outscored Spartak Pleven in Plovdiv 92-73. Levski lost to Cherno More at home 76-93.
The most impressive performance of 1st round was 19 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals by Curtis Jones of Cherno More.



Akademik P. - Beroe 90-86:
Akademik defeated Beroe in Plovdiv 90-86. Great defensive blocking was one of the keys in this match when Akademik made 7 blocks. Worth to mention a great performance of the former international Nikolay Mihaylov (204-2000, agency: BIG) who helped to win the game recording a double-double by scoring 23 points and 14 rebounds. American point guard DQ Nicholas (185-2000, college: Gardner-Webb) contributed with 20 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists for the winners. American guard Jordan Rawls (188-2001, college: NM State) answered with 16 points and 9 assists and the other American import center Daniel Saylor (211-2001, college: UAH) added 14 points and 11 rebounds in the effort for Beroe. Four Beroe players scored in double figures. Beroe's coach Daniel Klechkov rotated ten players in this game, but that didn't help. Beroe will play next round against Lokomotiv Pl. trying to get back on the winning streak. Akademik will try to continue on its current victory against Minyor 2015 in Pernik.
Top scorers:
Beroe: K.Mihov 17+5reb+2ast, J.Rawls 16+4reb+9ast, D.Saylor 14+11reb, C.Rollins 10+4reb+4ast, P.Emilien 8+2reb+1ast, K.Zhelev 6+1reb+1ast
Akademik P.: M.Nikolay 23+14reb+1ast, N.DQ 20+8reb+7ast, A.Sola 10+3reb+1ast, B.Vasil 10+2reb+1ast, V.Masan 9+1reb+6ast, M.Sean 8+7reb+2ast

Minyor 2015 - Shumen 123-101:
The most crucial game of the last round was a loss of Shumen in Pernik. Visitors were rolled over by Minyor 2015 123-101. Minyor 2015 made 19-of-24 charity shots (79.2 percent) during the game. Their players were unselfish on offense dishing 24 assists. International forward Georgi Boyanov (200-1993, college: USA) stepped up and scored 30 points and 8 rebounds for the winners and American point guard Jermaine Head (186-1997, college: WILMU) chipped in 21 points and 8 assists. At the losing side Nigerian-American guard Mike Adewunmi (198-1999, college: UTRGV) responded with 26 points and American forward Dylan Causwell (203-1995, college: USAO, agency: 6th Man Basketball Agency) scored 21 points and 8 rebounds. Four Minyor 2015 and five Shumen players scored in double figures. The winner was already known earlier in the game, so both coaches allowed to play the bench players saving starting five for next games. Minyor 2015 will play against Akademik in Plovdiv in the next round and it will be for sure the game of the week. Shumen will play at home against Botev and it may be a tough game between close rivals.
Top scorers:
Shumen: M.Adewunmi 26+2reb+2ast, D.Causwell 21+8reb+1ast, Z.Jackson 15+3reb+2ast, A.Herndon 14+9reb, K.Lazarov 14+2reb+3ast, V.Stanev 6+3reb+3ast
Minyor 2015: B.Georgi 30+8reb+3ast, H.Jermaine 21+1reb+8ast, O.Alex 20+3reb+1ast, D.Erik 14+1reb, D.Malisic 12+7reb, K.Igor 9+7reb+3ast

Botev - Balkan 66-91:
An interesting game was also a 25-point tough home loss of Botev in a game in Vratsa versus undefeated Balkan 91-66. Balkan outrebounded Botev 47-23 including a 31-17 advantage in defensive rebounds. Balkan looked well-organized offensively handing out 29 assists comparing to just 8 passes made by Botev's players. Great defensive blocking was one of the keys in this match when Balkan made 9 blocks. International Aleksandar Stoimenov (198-2001, college: Collin CC, agency: Octagon Europe) nailed 18 points and 5 rebounds for the winning side and international point guard Konstantin Toshkov (186-2002, agency: BIG) accounted for 10 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. Four Balkan players scored in double figures. Balkan's coach Bogdan Karaicic felt very confident that he used 10 players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. American point guard Mark Freeman (180-2000, college: JMU) came up with 30 points and 4 steals and forward Kristiyan Vasilev (201-2006, college: Mobile, AL) added 14 points and 8 rebounds respectively for Botev in the defeat. Balkan will meet at home Levski in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Botev will play against Shumen and hope to win that game.
Top scorers:
Botev: M.Freeman 30+2reb+2ast, K.Vasilev 14+8reb, S.Hinkov 8+3reb+2ast, D.Haughton 5+7reb+1ast, L.Petrov 5+1reb+1ast, I.Georgi 3+1ast
Balkan: S.Aleksandar 18+5reb+2ast, I.Pavlin 14+3reb+2ast, O.David 11+5reb+5ast, T.Konstantin 10+6reb+6ast, G.Nikolay 10+2reb+1ast, S.Martin 9+9reb+1ast

Yambol - Rilski 64-96:
But Yambol was not able to use a home court advantage and was crushed by the opponent from Samokov 96-64 on Sunday night. Rilski dominated down low during the game scoring 56 of its points in the paint compared to Yambol's 32 and made 19-of-23 free shots (82.6 percent) during the game. They outrebounded Yambol 44-25 including a 30-16 advantage in defensive rebounds. International forward Hristo Bachkov (200-2004, agency: BIG) nailed 18 points and 9 rebounds for the winning side and American forward Isaiah Richards (208-2001, college: Gardner-Webb, agency: Players Group) accounted for 13 points and 10 rebounds. Five Rilski players scored in double figures. American forward Josh Taylor (203-2001, college: ETAMU) came up with a double-double by scoring 16 points and 12 rebounds and the other American import guard CJ Hardy (190-2003, college: CSUB) added 22 points and 4 steals respectively for Yambol in the defeat. Since the result was very predictable, it gave the chance for the coaches to test many bench players and allowed the starting five to rest. Rilski will meet at home CSKA in the next round. Yambol will play against Cherno More in Varna and hope to win that game.
Top scorers:
Yambol: C.Hardy 22+2reb+3ast, J.Taylor 16+12reb, J.Young 11+2reb+7ast, A.Vachev 7+6reb, B.Mehmed 6+1ast, N.Nankov 2+1ast
Rilski: B.Hristo 18+9reb+1ast, M.Vasov 14+6reb+1ast, R.Isaiah 13+10reb+1ast, P.Krasimir 12+4reb, A.Alan 11+3reb, K.Deyan 8+2reb+4ast

CSKA - Polytechnica 100-95:
CSKA used a home court advantage and defeated the opponent from Dupnitsa 100-95 on Saturday night. CSKA looked well-organized offensively handing out 29 assists. Ghanian-American Nana Antwi-Boasiako (206-2002, college: SF Austin) nailed a double-double by scoring 23 points, 13 rebounds and 4 assists (on 10-of-13 shooting from the field) for the winning side and ex-international guard Martin Rusev (193-2004) accounted for 24 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. American guard Landon Glasper (188-2004, college: NC A&T) came up with 23 points and 5 assists and guard Vasil Popov (198-2002) added 24 points respectively for Polytechnica in the defeat. Both teams had four players each who scored in double figures. Polytechnica's coach Aleksandar Dragicevic tested ten players, but that didn't help to avoid defeat in this game. CSKA will meet Rilski in the next round which should be theoretically an easy game. Polytechnica will play against Spartak Pleven and hope to win that game.
Top scorers:
Polytechnica: V.Popov 24+3ast, L.Glasper 23+2reb+5ast, F.Boskovic 16+10reb+1ast, N.Jekov 15+5reb+7ast, S.Adzic 6+2ast, I.Korestilov 5+10reb+3ast
CSKA: R.Martin 24+9reb+5ast, A.Nana 23+13reb+4ast, A.Aleksandar 19+9reb+3ast, D.Ivan 15+4reb+6ast, G.Dimov 8+3reb+3ast, K.Boyan 7+6ast

Spartak Pleven - Lokomotiv Pl. 73-92:
But Spartak Pleven was not able to use a home court advantage and was rolled over by the opponent from Plovdiv 92-73 on Sunday night. American guard Devearl Ramsey (180-1997, college: UCSB) nailed a double-double by scoring 19 points, 9 rebounds and 10 assists for the winning side and his fellow American import guard Jomaru Brown (188-1999, college: Coastal) accounted for 29 points and 4 assists. Swingman Aleksandar Matushev (197-2000) came up with 21 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists and American point guard Jalan McCloud (180-1995, college: ETSU, agency: Helping Ballers) added 20 points and 5 assists respectively for Spartak Pleven in the defeat. Both coaches used bench players and allowed the starting five to rest. Lokomotiv Pl. will meet Beroe in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Spartak Pleven will play against Polytechnica in Dupnitsa and hope to win that game.
Top scorers:
Spartak Pleven: A.Matushev 21+7reb+4ast, J.McCloud 20+4reb+5ast, T.Williams 12+3reb+1ast, S.Sorak 8+4reb, N.Titkov 6+2reb, G.Tsekov 4+2reb+1ast
Lokomotiv Pl.: B.Jomaru 29+2reb+4ast, T.Isaiah 20+6reb, R.Devearl 19+9reb+10ast, K.Ioannis 8+2reb, M.Tomislav 6+1reb+3ast, D.Jordan 3+3reb+1ast

Levski - Cherno More 76-93:
But Levski was not able to use a home court advantage and lost to the opponent from Varna 93-76 on Monday night. Cherno More made 20-of-26 free shots (76.9 percent) during the game. Cherno More outrebounded Levski 37-24 including 28 on the defensive glass. American point guard Curtis Jones (194-1997, college: Penn State, agency: BIG) nailed 19 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals for the winning side and international center Andrey Ivanov (205-1996, agency: BIG) accounted for 14 points and 7 rebounds. Four Cherno More players scored in double figures. Daniel Hinkov (198-2007) came up with 23 points and 5 rebounds and Stoyan Kaynarov (190-2001, agency: BIG) added 15 points respectively for Levski in the defeat. Both coaches used bench players and allowed the starting five to rest. Cherno More will meet at home Yambol in the next round which should be an easy win for them. Levski will play against Balkan in Botevgrad and hope to win that game.
Top scorers:
Levski: D.Hinkov 23+5reb+2ast, S.Kaynarov 15+4reb+2ast, A.Simeonov 11+5reb+5ast, C.Raines 8+2reb+1ast, G.Lefebvre 7+6reb, A.Martin 6+1reb+2ast
Cherno More: J.Curtis 19+5reb+6ast, B.Dachon 17+4reb, I.Andrey 14+7reb, S.Nikolay 13+3reb+2ast, C.Tsvetomir 9+6reb, K.Zane 8+3reb