Lokomotiv Plovdiv defeated Rilski Sportist 100:99 (14:21, 23:28, 29:20, 20:17, 14:13) after extra time in an intriguing semi-final match of the Bulgarian Cup tournament at “Arena Botevgrad“. Thus, Lokomotiv reached a historic final, which is coming up on Sunday at 18:00, and the opponent of Plovdiv will be the winner of the second semi-final between the hosts from Balkan and the current holder of the Cherno more Ticha trophy, BTA reported.
The champions from Rilski Sportist took the initiative at the beginning, and their lead reached 7 points at 16:9 after a basket by Miloš Glisić a minute and a half before the end of the first quarter, which came at 21:14. Samokov continued to increase their lead and in the middle of the second period Hristo Bąchkov converted for 38:20 in favor of Rilski Sportist. By the break, Lokomotiv had reduced its deficit a little and after 20 minutes of play the score was 49:37 in favor of the team from Samokov.
After the break, Rilski Sportist maintained the lead, but the Plovdiv team reduced its deficit even more and in the final minutes of the third period, after accurate shots by Grant Singleton and twice by Krastomir Mihov, Lokomotiv came close to 3 points – 66:69 before the last period.
A 10:0 run allowed the basketball players of Lokomotiv Plovdiv to make a turnaround and take a 78:75 lead with four and a half minutes remaining in the regular time of the match. Alan Arnett tied the score at 84:84 with a basket for Rilski Sportist a minute and a half before the end. Misses followed for both teams, before Deverle Ramsey scored for Lokomotiv, and Michael Edwards – for Samokovci with 13 seconds remaining. Deverl Ramsey missed a chance to bring the victory to Plovdiv and the game went into overtime.
The additional five minutes offered tense moments, with 14 seconds left Deyan Karamfilov converted once from the penalty line for 99:97 in favor of Rilski Sportist. In the final moments, however, Deverl Ramsey scored a three-pointer, bringing the victory to Lokomotiv Plovdiv.
Khalil Miller distinguished himself with a “double-double“ of 21 points and 10 rebounds, Deverl Ramsey added 20 points, 3 rebounds and 9 assists, and Krastomir Mihov contributed to the success with 19 points and 4 rebounds.
Alan Arnett finished with 19 points and 4 rebounds for Rilski Sportist, while Chavdar Kostov scored 18 points. Hristo Bachkov recorded a “double-double” of 13 points and 14 rebounds.