The team of Lukoil Academic took very important win in the battle for first place in NBL. Today the champions defeated Levski79-77 at home and are now occupying alone the first position. If the team wins all the games until the end it will have a home advantage in the playoffs. It was a dramatic game as it had 24 lead changes and 18 ties, but at the end the luck was on Lukoil's side.
The first quarter was very even and at the end of it Levski had the edge, 21-22. In the second Lukoil improved its defense and that showed on the scoreboard. Near the end of the half the hosts pulled away and led 43-35.
The visitors started very strong the second half and not only erased the deficit but even took the lead. Then both teams exchanged basket and Lukoil went in front 57-56 before the last ten minutes. The last quarter was very dramatic and the winner was not known until the final seconds. With the score tied at 76, Slavko Stefanovic scored a three-pointer with 7 seconds to go and after Aaron Harper missed for the visitors the game was over.
Pero Antic was the top scorer for the winners with 17 points despite fouling out early in the fourth quarter. Todor Stoykov showed once again he is a player for the big games and added 16 points while Willie Deane scored 15.
Top scorer of the game with 19 points was the captain of the visitors Stefan Georgiev. Aaron Harper added 14 and Gjorgi Cekovski 13 during the first loss for Levski in 9 games in the league. FULL STATS FROM LUKOIL ACADEMIC - LEVSKI GAME
