CSKA coped with Black Sea Ticha, Shumen beat Yambol and formed the top 8 in the National Basketball League for men

CSKA defeated Chernomore Ticha 105:99 (27:24, 29:20, 19:20, 30:35) as host in Sofia in a match of the 32nd, final round in the Men’s National Basketball League (NBL). After four consecutive losses, the “reds” achieved their 15th success to end the regular season, and the Varna team extended their negative streak with a 21st loss. The two teams finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the regular season.

CSKA played a better first half and increased the difference to 16 points in the second quarter, and at the break the score was 56:44. The “Reds” retained the initiative even after the break, and before the last period the home team’s lead was 75:64. In the remaining minutes, Black Sea Ticha reduced the gap below 5 points, but was unable to achieve a turnaround.

Georgi Boyanov distinguished himself with a “triple-double”, who scored 25 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists, Alexander Radukic added 20 points and 8 rebounds, and Vasil Bachev – 19 points and 6 assists.

Curtis Jones finished with 22 points and 7 rebounds for Black Sea Ticha, while Ivan Spirov had 17 points and 6 rebounds.

Shumen’s team prevailed over Yambol 84:71 (23:18, 23:14, 20:17, 18:22) as a host, recording their fourth consecutive and overall 15th victory. Yambol suffered a fourth consecutive and 20th loss in total, which prevented the team from fighting for the last, eighth place for the playoffs, which is occupied by Levski.

The hosts from Shumen controlled the game at the end of the first quarter and led by 23:18, and by the break they increased their lead to 46:32. An equal third part followed, in which, however, the Shumen basketball players did not allow a significant reduction in the gap and before the fourth part they led with 66:49. In the final 10 minutes, the situation did not change and the Yambol players were unable to oppose the hosts.

Justin Kohaida impressed for Shumen with 16 points and 26 rebounds, while Emilian Grudov and David Rollins scored 15 points each. Grudov added 7 rebounds and 3 assists, and Rollins added 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

For the Yambol team, Alexander Matushev finished with 22 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists, while Ivan Lilov and Pavel Marinov scored 13 points each.

The final standings in the regular season will be finalized after the remaining matches of the final round are played tomorrow (April 23), but the quarter-final pairings are now clear.

The first round of the NBL playoffs (quarterfinals, in which two wins out of three possible matches will be played) are scheduled for April 29, May 1 and 3.

Quarter-final pairings:

Черноморец – Левски Рилски спортист – Шумен Спартак Плевен – Черно море Тича Балкан - ЦСКА

Men’s Sesame National Basketball League (NBL) Round of 32 Matchups:

Първа шестица ЦСКА – Черно море Тича – 105:99 (27:24, 29:20, 19:20, 30:35)  във вторник: Спартак Плевен - Черноморец Рилски спортист - Балкан  Втора шестица Шумен – Ямбол – 84:71 (23:18, 23:14, 20:17, 18:22)  във вторник: Левски - Миньор 2015 Академик Пловдив - Берое   временно класиране:  1. Черноморец      31  25  6   2655:2346   57 точки  2. Рилски спортист 31  23  8   2634:2356   54  3. Спартак Плевен  31  22  9   2706:2453   53  4. Балкан          31  21  10  2555:2419   52  5. ЦСКА            32  15  17  2683:2653   47  6. Черно море Тича 32  11  21  2604:2851   43 -----------------------------------------------  7. Шумен           32  15  17  2746:2634   47  8. Левски          31  13  18  2353:2398   44  9. Ямбол           32  12  20  2545:2711   44 10. Академик        31  12  19  2495:2608   43 11. Миньор 2015     31  11  20  2393:2523   42 12. Берое           31  8   23  2485:2902   39