Ukraine – Higher League Round 13: Politekhn.Lvov defeats leader Hoverla

DmytroKhodov The fans could enjoy quite many interesting games in the last round. The round ended with defeat of the leader and favorites losing the games.The most crucial game of the last round was a loss of top-ranked Hoverla (10-2) in Frankivsk on Sunday night. Hosts were defeated by fourth ranked Politekhn.Lvov (7-4) 83-67. It ended at the same time the ten-game winning streak of Hoverla. The game was mostly controlled by Politekhn.Lvov. Hoverla managed to win third quarter 21-17. But it was not enough to take a lead and get a victory that evening. Politekhn.Lvov forced 20 Hoverla turnovers. They looked well-organized offensively handing out 28 assists. Worth to mention a great performance of forward Dmytro Khodov (203-87) who helped to win the game recording 24 points. point guard Andriy Kobets (192-93, agency: AproK Sports Group) contributed with 10 points, 6 rebounds, 11 assists and 5 steals for the winners. Stanislav Serpilin (194-93) answered with 24 points for Hoverla. Politekhn.Lvov maintains fourth place with 7-4 record. Hoverla at the other side still keeps top position with two games lost. They share it with Azovmash and Krivbas-2. Both teams do not play next round, which will be an opportunity for some rest. Very important is a road loss of second ranked BC-93 Pulsar (8-4) against fifth ranked Ternopil-TNEU (6-6) on Sunday night. Visiting BC-93 Pulsar was defeated by Ternopil-TNEU in a tough game in Ternopil 75-82. It ended at the same time the seven-game winning streak of BC-93 Pulsar. Guard Andrij Shapovalov (187-93) stepped up and scored 23 points and 6 rebounds for the winners and Oleksiy Momotenko chipped in 19 points and 12 rebounds. At the losing side forward Anatoly Dubniuk (202-76) responded with 7 points and 10 rebounds. Both coaches used bench players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. Ternopil-TNEU maintains fifth place with 6-6 record. Newly promoted BC-93 Pulsar keeps the second position with four games lost. They share it with Khimik-2. Both teams do not play next round, which will be an opportunity for some rest. An interesting game for Zolotoi Vek (9-3) which played road game in Dnepropetrovsk against 4th placed Dnipro-2 (4-8). Third ranked Zolotoi Vek had an easy win 104-72. Andriy Kulish nailed a double-double by scoring 27 points, 25 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals for the winning side. Yusuf Sanon came up with 30 points and 6 rebounds for Dnipro-2 in the defeat. Dnipro-2’s coach Oleksandr Muntian gave up on the game allowing to play ten players seeing no chance for a win. Zolotoi Vek have a solid series of four victories in a row. They maintain third place with 9-3 record behind leader Hoverla. Newly promoted Dnipro-2 dropped to the fifth position with eight games lost. Zolotoi Vek will meet at home league’s leader Azovmash in the next round and it will be for sure the game of the week. Dnipro-2 will play against Kremen-2 (#7) and it may be a tough game between close rivals. Bottom-ranked KPZO DYUSH is still unable to win any game. This time they lost on the road their 11th consecutive match to sixth ranked Ch.Mavpy 2 (2-10) 89-63. Yevgen Balaban fired a double-double by scoring 21 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks for the winners. The winner was already known earlier in the game, so both coaches allowed to play the bench players saving starting five for next games. Ch.Mavpy 2 maintains sixth place with 2-10 record, which they share with SumDU and Kremen-2. Newly promoted KPZO DYUSH still closes the standings with 11 games lost. Both teams do not play next round, which will be an opportunity for some rest. Bottom-ranked KPZO DYUSH is still unable to win any game. This time they lost on the road their 11th consecutive match to sixth ranked Ch.Mavpy 2 (2-10) 78-53 on Tuesday evening. It was a very good performance for Yevgen Balaban who helped to win the game recording a double-double by scoring 20 points and 10 rebounds. Since the result was very predictable, it gave the chance for the coaches to test many bench players and allowed the starting five to rest. Ch.Mavpy 2 maintains sixth place with 2-10 record, which they share with SumDU and Kremen-2. Newly promoted KPZO DYUSH still closes the standings with 11 games lost. Both teams do not play next round, which will be an opportunity for some rest. In the last two games of round 13 Kremen-2 was beaten by Niko-Basket on the road 85-70. Krivbas-2 won against SumDU on its own court 75-58. Ch.Mavpy 2 – KPZO DYUSH 89-63Bottom-ranked KPZO DYUSH is still unable to win any game. This time they lost on the road their 11th consecutive match to sixth ranked Ch.Mavpy 2 (2-10) 89-63. It looked good early as KPZO DYUSH took a 2-point small lead at the end of first quarter. But then Ch.Mavpy 2 had a 17-13 second period charge getting the lead and KPZO DYUSH was not able to take back game control losing it eventually 63-89. Ch.Mavpy 2 made 20-of-25 charity shots (80.0 percent) during the game. Their players were unselfish on offense dishing 25 assists. Ch.Mavpy 2 brought some defensive toughness making 7 blocks. Yevgen Balaban (200-96, agency: AproK Sports Group) fired a double-double by scoring 21 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks for the winners. Point guard Nikita Voievoda (184-96) chipped in 16 points and 7 assists. Four Ch.Mavpy 2 players scored in double figures. Point guard Yuriy Strizhevskiy (180-92) produced 15 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists and point guard Sergey Bukin (180-87) added 9 points and 7 rebounds respectively for lost side. The winner was already known earlier in the game, so both coaches allowed to play the bench players saving starting five for next games. Ch.Mavpy 2 maintains sixth place with 2-10 …

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