Africa-Press – Angola. With 23 points from Carlos Morais, Petro de Luanda started the second edition of the Basketball African League (BAL) in the best way, thanks to the victory over the Cape Town Tigers, by 90-61, in a scoring challenge for the first round of the Conference Nile.
Contrary to what was expected, the Tigers started by showing their sharp claws, putting to rest the theory of being a rookie team with few tactical arguments to counter the Angolan champion.
In a short time of play, the Cape Town team showed organization, both defending and attacking, with players capable of making the difference. Petro seemed to have been taken by surprise but little by little he started to get the strategy right that balanced the match.
Experienced winger Carlos Morais started by showing what he knows best, with technical and individual resources, he pushed his teammates who also began to gain confidence. José Neto made changes in the starting five, gave the sustainability that Petro needed and won the first quarter, by 18-23. The dice were rolled for a balanced challenge and it was no different.
The same dynamic was demonstrated by the Angolans who won the partial by 21-15, and went to the break to win, by 44-33. The double-digit lead mirrored what the two contenders produced in the two periods.
In the restart, the South Africans reduced the deficit from 11 to five points (40-45). Defensive gaps and missed attacks didn’t seem to worry José Neto let the game go on without asking for a discount to reorganize the team.
Only four minutes to the end of the third quarter did the coach intervene, at a time that was starting to be worrying as the Tigers believed they could surprise Petro.
The experience of Olímpio Cipriano and Carlos Morais returned the consistency that the oil workers needed to go to the last quarter with relative tranquility (48-65). The last fourth served to confirm what was predicted. The Eixo Viário team only had to manage and extend the advantage to consolidate the expressive victory.
Second Day
Petro de Luanda is already planning this Wednesday’s game, at 19:00, at the Hassan Mostafa Pavilion against South Sudan’s Kobra Sport, for the second round of the Nilo Conference of the African Basketball League (BAL).
In this second game, the tricolors will have a game with a higher degree of difficulty, in relation to their debut opponent, after the replica that the Sudanese team offered to the hosts, where they proved to be a homogeneous team, capable of creating difficulty at any one of the candidates.
Bearing in mind the situation, the coach José Neto will certainly have today to rehearse strategies in order to nullify Kobra’s strengths and keep the aspirations of the Angolan ambassador intact. After the third place, the oil companies took the best lessons from everything that didn’t go the best way, in the last edition, in Kigali, Rwanda, because the goal for this year, in the biggest summit of continental basketball at club level, is to guarantee the spot for the play off. To do so, it is enough to be among the top four among the six teams that make up the conference that takes place in the Egyptian capital until the 19th of this year.
Zamalek Wins And Confirms Favoritism
Egypt’s Zamalek, the reigning champions, beat Cobra Sport Club of South Sudan on Saturday night, 80-63, in a game on the first round of the Nile Conference, initiating the best defense of the title.
The Assam Mustafa Hallss Pavilion, on the outskirts of Cairo, had a modest capacity where most fans witnessed the evolution of the main candidate to guarantee his presence in the play off of the quarter-finals.
Faced with a small audience, but intense in support, the hosts were already winning at half-time, 35-28, in a match in which former NBA player Ike Diogu made his presence felt in a remarkable way.
Diogu carried the hosts’ attack with 17 points and was named the MVP of the match. “It was a good game, especially playing with the support of these incredible fans. But nothing is decided, there are still four games to go,” Diogu said in statements to the press.
Although Zamalek was dominant, the Cobra Sport team never backed down and showed responsiveness, especially in the indoor game. This attitude forced Zamalek to make adjustments in the defensive sector.
In the first period they won (21-11), the second (35-28), the third (62-45) and the last (80-63). It was Zamalek’s seventh straight win in the BAL after winning the inaugural season last year in Kigali with six wins in as many matches.
Despite the victory, Diogu admitted that Zamalek “need to improve in the defensive rebounds chapter. These teams are extremely athletic, it was a good test for us”, he concluded.
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