Levski won and took the Cup of Bulgaria after beating the previous holder of the trophy Lukoil Academic. In front of packed stands in "Balkanstroy" hall in Ple ven the players of Titi Papazov outplayed Lukoil Academic winning 89-81 and are the new winners of "Ledenika Cup". For second time this season Levski defeated the champions but this time in a Cup game where there will not be a chance for revenge.
The teams started very nervous the game and there was a low scoring in the first ten minutes. Then in the second quarter the things changed. The scoring was bigger as the teams scored a total of 63 points in this quarter. There were mistakes from both sides but the quality of the basketball played was much better.
With two minutes to play Lukoil Academic took the lead at 81-80 but this was the last basket for the team tonight. From here until the final buzzer Levski scored 9 unanswered points and the Cup was "Blue".
Levski won the rebounding battle 36-29 and stopped Lukoil Academic's strength - the three-point shooting. Despite scoring 9 times from the three-point lane for most of the time they couldn't succeed with their shot. Levski even scored 10 threes - more than its opponent.
Marcus Hall came in as a substitute and finished with 23 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds to be the Most Valuable Player in his first game from the four day tournament in Pleven. He was a real enigma for Lukoil Academic's defense and they didn't find a way to stop him.
Stefan Georgiev and Dwayne Morton scored 15 apiece despite also starting the game on the bench. Kazlauskas added 13 and Zlatin Georgiev 12 but they both were scoring in very important moments. Boyko Mladenov also played good during his time on the court.
For Lukoil Academic the two Americans Goldwire and Deane finished with game-high 18 points as Todor Stoykov added 14. However they were the only players to score in double figures for their team.
Now with Lukoil Academic losing this Cup final the things in the championship will probably be even more interesting. The confidence of the champions is not as high as before and they will certainly have problems in their bid to retain the title in may.
FULL STATS OF THE LUKOIL ACADEMIC - LEVSKI GAME
