Tonight at Arena Botevgrad, Balkan lost their fifth match in Group D of the EuroCup tournament. They were defeated by the Spanish side Manresa, 65–76 (17–25, 19–14, 14–15, 15–22).
Balkan played well during the first three quarters. Manresa led 25–17 after the first quarter, but Balkan won the second, narrowing the deficit to just 3 points by halftime (36–39). Balkan even managed to take the lead twice—at 42–41 in the 23rd minute and 45–44 in the 25th minute.
The third quarter was also highly competitive, ending 15–14 in favor of the Spanish team, leaving the score at 54–50 for Manresa. In the final quarter, however, the visiting team—supported by ten of their own fans—completely dominated. By the 35th minute, they had built a double-digit lead (70–57) and maintained it until the end of the game, finishing 76–65.
Javante McCoy, returning from injury, was once again Balkan’s top scorer with 21 points, shooting 7-of-15 from two-point range and 2-of-7 from beyond the arc. Konstantin Toshkov also reached double figures with 14 points, while adding 8 rebounds. Gael Bonilla contributed 8 points, and both Aleksandar Stoimenov and Ulrich Chomche scored 6 points each. For Manresa, J.D. Notae scored 22 points, Eric Vila added 13, and the Frenchman Lucas Beaufort contributed 10. Bulgarian national team player and former Balkan player Dancho Minchev played 15 minutes and grabbed 7 rebounds, but finished scoreless.
