NBL Round 25 (Regular Season): Rilski lose to Akademik

There are only two more rounds left in the Regular Season in NBL. Host teams show no mercy winning all games. Here is the last round review presented by Job Market.

Top ranked Rilski (20-3) recorded its third loss in Plovdiv on Sunday night. Visitors were defeated by sixth ranked Akademik (12-10) 83-77. It ended at the same time the nine-game winning streak of Rilski. Akademik made 20-of-24 free shots (83.3 percent) during the game. Montenegrin guard Masan Vrbica (187-1994, agency: PEPI SPORT) fired a double-double by scoring 23 points and 10 assists for the winners. American forward Daylen Williams (203-2001, college: UTRGV) chipped in 18 points and 9 rebounds. Croatian-Bosnian forward Jure Planinic (206-2000) produced a double-double by scoring 12 points and 10 rebounds for lost side. Both coaches used bench players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. Akademik have a solid series of three victories in a row. They moved-up to fourth place, which they share with Spartak Pleven. Defending champion Rilski still keeps top position with three games lost. Akademik is looking forward to face Spartak Pleven (#4) on the road in the next round. Rilski will play against Shumen and is hoping to win this game.
An exciting game between Top Four teams was played in Botevgrad. Second ranked Balkan faced 4th placed Spartak Pleven. Host Balkan (16-6) defeated guests from Pleven (12-10) 104-89. Worth to mention a great performance of American guard Curtis Jones (191-1997, college: Penn State) who helped to win the game recording 39 points (!!!) and 4 assists. Lamonte Turner contributed with 19 points and 12 assists for the winners. American guard Christian Keeling (191-1998, college: UNC) answered with 21 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists for Spartak Pleven. Both coaches tested many bench players and allowed the starting five to rest. Balkan maintains second place with 16-6 record having five points less than leader Rilski. Spartak Pleven at the other side keeps the fourth position with ten games lost. They share it with Akademik. Balkan will play against Minyor 2015 (#7) in Pernik in the next round which should be theoretically an easy game. Spartak Pleven will play at home against Akademik and it may be a tough game between close rivals.
The game with biggest result difference took place in Varna. Local Cherno More (13-9) outscored 7th ranked Minyor 2015 (9-13) 99-80 on Saturday night. Marin Marinov stepped up and scored 16 points for the winners. At the losing side Prince Orizu responded with 19 points and 8 rebounds (made all of his nine free throws !!!). Both coaches allowed to play bench players saving starting five for next games. Cherno More moved-up to third place. Loser Minyor 2015 keeps the seventh position with 13 games lost. Cherno More will meet Levski (#8) in the next round which should be theoretically an easy game. Minyor 2015 will play against the league's second-placed Balkan and hope to secure a win.

In the last game of round 25 Levski was defeated by Beroe in Stara Zagora 84-76.



Akademik P. - Rilski 83-77

Top ranked Rilski (20-3) recorded its third loss in Plovdiv on Sunday night. Visitors were defeated by sixth ranked Akademik (12-10) 83-77. It ended at the same time the nine-game winning streak of Rilski. Akademik made 20-of-24 free shots (83.3 percent) during the game. Montenegrin guard Masan Vrbica (187-1994, agency: PEPI SPORT) fired a double-double by scoring 23 points and 10 assists for the winners. American forward Daylen Williams (203-2001, college: UTRGV) chipped in 18 points and 9 rebounds. Croatian-Bosnian forward Jure Planinic (206-2000) produced a double-double by scoring 12 points and 10 rebounds and American guard Alan Arnett (196-1994, college: GSW, agency: BIG) added 14 points and 5 rebounds respectively for lost side. Both coaches used bench players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. Akademik have a solid series of three victories in a row. They moved-up to fourth place, which they share with Spartak Pleven. Defending champion Rilski still keeps top position with three games lost. Akademik is looking forward to face Spartak Pleven (#4) on the road in the next round. Rilski will play against Shumen and is hoping to win this game.
Top scorers:
Akademik P.: M.Vrbica 23+3reb+10ast, D.Williams 18+9reb, V.Bachev 13+3reb, N.Titkov 8+1reb+4ast, I.Kikrilis 6+3reb+1ast, N.Mihaylov 6+9reb+1ast
Rilski: A.Arnett 14+5reb+2ast, S.Hannah 13+2reb+1ast, J.Planinic 12+10reb, H.Bachkov 9+9reb+1ast, A.Georgiev 7+5reb+1ast, D.Karamfilov 7+5ast

Balkan - Spartak Pleven 104-89

An exciting game between Top Four teams was played in Botevgrad. Second ranked Balkan faced 4th placed Spartak Pleven. Host Balkan (16-6) defeated guests from Pleven (12-10) 104-89. Balkan made 22-of-27 charity shots (81.5 percent) during the game. Their players were unselfish on offense dishing 22 assists. Spartak Pleven was plagued by 26 personal fouls down the stretch. Worth to mention a great performance of American guard Curtis Jones (191-1997, college: Penn State) who helped to win the game recording 39 points (!!!) and 4 assists. His fellow American import guard Lamonte Turner (188-1997, college: Tennessee) contributed with a double-double by scoring 19 points and 12 assists for the winners. American guard Christian Keeling (191-1998, college: UNC) answered with 21 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists and Serbian center Igor Kesar (210-1992) added 19 points and 8 rebounds in the effort for Spartak Pleven. Both teams had four players each who scored in double figures. Both coaches tested many bench players and allowed the starting five to rest. Balkan maintains second place with 16-6 record having five points less than leader Rilski. Spartak Pleven at the other side keeps the fourth position with ten games lost. They share it with Akademik. Balkan will play against Minyor 2015 (#7) in Pernik in the next round which should be theoretically an easy game. Spartak Pleven will play at home against Akademik and it may be a tough game between close rivals.
Top scorers:
Balkan: C.Jones 39+4reb+4ast, G.Boyanov 19+9reb, L.Turner 19+12ast, I.Pishtikov 16+3reb+2ast, I.Korestilov 4+3reb, N.Grozev 3+2reb
Spartak Pleven: C.Keeling 21+8reb+5ast, I.Kesar 19+8reb, T.Hollowell 17+5ast, S.Lepichev 14+6reb, D.Bracey 8+3reb+2ast, V.Gergov 4+3reb

Beroe - Levski 84-76

There was no surprise in Stara Zagora where 8th ranked Levski (4-18) was defeated by sixth ranked Beroe (12-11) 84-76 on Saturday. Beroe looked well-organized offensively handing out 23 assists. American forward Brett Reed (204-1996, college: St.Martin's) stepped up with a double-double by scoring 23 points, 17 rebounds, 8 assists and 6 steals (on 10-of-13 shooting from the field) for the winners and swingman Ivaylo Tonev (198-1999, agency: BIG) chipped in 17 points and 4 assists. Four Beroe players scored in double figures. At the losing side the former international Borislav Mladenov (202-2000, agency: Interperformances) responded with 17 points and 8 rebounds and the former international point guard Asen Velikov (187-1986) scored 8 points and 7 assists. Both coaches allowed to play bench players saving starting five for next games. Beroe maintains sixth place with 12-11 record. Levski lost fourth consecutive game. They keep the eighth position with 18 games lost. Beroe will have a break next round, and it should allow them to practice more before next game. Levski will play against Cherno More (#3) and hope to secure a win.
Top scorers:
Beroe: B.Reed 23+17reb+8ast, I.Tonev 17+4reb+4ast, K.Dye 13+1reb+2ast, A.Walker 11+5reb+3ast, V.Petkov 8+4reb+4ast, K.Mihov 5+1ast
Levski: B.Mladenov 17+8reb+3ast, L.Dimitrov 12+1reb+3ast, A.Milov 12+2ast, A.Velikov 8+2reb+7ast, D.Marincheshki 8+5reb, A.Vachev 8+5reb

Cherno More - Minyor 2015 99-80

The game with biggest result difference took place in Varna. Local Cherno More (13-9) outscored 7th ranked Minyor 2015 (9-13) 99-80 on Saturday night. Cherno More made 22-of-28 free shots (78.6 percent) during the game. Marin Marinov (204-2000) stepped up and scored 16 points for the winners and the former international swingman Nikolay Stoyanov (195-1994) chipped in 15 points and 5 rebounds (perfect from the field making all six shots). At the losing side Nigerian power forward Prince Orizu (208-1994) responded with 19 points and 8 rebounds (made all of his nine free throws !!!) and guard Vasil Popov (198-2002) scored 13 points and 7 rebounds. Both teams had four players each who scored in double figures. Both coaches allowed to play bench players saving starting five for next games. Cherno More moved-up to third place. Loser Minyor 2015 keeps the seventh position with 13 games lost. Cherno More will meet Levski (#8) in the next round which should be theoretically an easy game. Minyor 2015 will play against the league's second-placed Balkan and hope to secure a win.
Top scorers:
Cherno More: M.Marinov 16+3reb+3ast, N.Stoyanov 15+5reb, R.Purvis 14+1reb+2ast, I.Spirov 13+4reb, S.Smith 11+7reb+1ast, M.Moldov 9+2reb+1ast
Minyor 2015: P.Orizu 19+8reb, B.Brinyuk 13+6reb+1ast, V.Popov 13+7reb+2ast, T.Burks 12+3reb+1ast, C.Schwartz 9+4reb+1ast, N.Ivanov 6+3reb+1ast