Lukoil Academic Reclaims Bulgarian NBL Title

Pravec, Bulgaria – Lukoil Academic Sofia are the 2015 Bulgarian NBL Champions! After missing out on the title in 2014 to Levski Sofia, for the first time in 13 years,  they are once again sitting atop of the Bulgarian basketball throne and ready to assert their dominance over the league anew. Lukoil Academic defeated Balkan Botevgrad 87-77 in Game 5 of a thrilling Finals series. They bounced back after initially being down 1-2 in the series to capture the crown. This is the 23rd title for the league’s most dominant franchise in NBL history. Unfortunately for Balkan, they will have to try again next season to end their 26-year long title drought.

Lukoil Academic started off the game strong and ran up a 20-13 lead at the end of the first quarter. Balkan struggled to get their offense in order, while the former champions were hungry to reclaim their lost glory. The once seven-point lead ballooned to 16 after the end of three periods. With one final quarter remaining, Balkan made a valiant push but in the end it was not enough to erase Lukoil Academic’s lead.

Hristo Zahariev put up a spectacular performance for Lukoil Academic with a game-high 23 points. He added five rebounds and four assists as well. Nikola Dragovic was a force in the paint with 16 points and eight rebounds. Kris Minkov and Terry Smith added 13 and 11 points, respectively.

Pavel Marinov and Ivan Lilov were the only players who were able to score in double figures. Marinov scored 18, while Lilov chipped in 17. A lack of scoring from Balkan’s bench proved to be their biggest headache in this game.

Lukoil Academic Sofia are champions once again. Will this be the beginning of a new era of their dominance, or will another team unseat them next season?