Africa-Press – Angola. Petro de Luanda consolidated its first position and remains unbeaten in the 44th edition of the National Senior Men’s Basketball Championship, thanks to a 102-63 victory over ASA.
The team technically led by the Brazilian José Neto maintains its offensive verticality, towards the revalidation of the competition title, which it takes advantage of as a prelude to its presence in the second edition of the Basketball African League (BAL), where it is at the “Nilo Conference”, which starts in April next.
The national champions, on Saturday, had no half measures to confirm their superiority. The difference of 39 points expresses the competitive, collective and individual disparity between the two squads.
The aviators’ objective was to lose by the smallest possible margin and Carlos Diniz’s pupils fought well in the first half, with stops and answers, as both teams went to the changing rooms with an advantage of 45-35, in favor of the tricolors.
In the following periods, the greater competitive experience of Eixo Viário players emerged.
Petro now has 22 points, in the first position, while the aviators are in the fifth position with 19.
The next day, the ASA team recovered from the setback and beat Kwanza’s team, by 88 – 63, and Akira Academy beat Inter B by 79-73. The airport crew has been doing their best to stay in the competition. The players have been without a salary for more than four months.
On the same day, Interclube reinforced Nacional’s fourth position by beating Jesus Cristo Basquetebol, by 93-80, in a match on the 14th round. The winger of the Christian team Miguel Maconda with 27 points, three rebounds and two steals, was the MVP of the challenge but he couldn’t avoid defeat.
Clube Amigos do Basquetebol de Benguela lost at home to Petro de Luanda, by 67-87 and remains at the bottom of the standings, with only 10 points, while Casa do Pessoas do Porto do Lobito lost, by 97-64, before the 1st of August.
Inter B and Vila Clotilde occupy the second and third positions, respectively, with 19 points each. The next round takes place Saturday and reserves the following matches: Interclube-1º de Agosto B, Petro de Luanda-Vila Clotilde, Inter B-Clube Amigos de Benguela, Jesus Cristo-Casa do Porto do Lobito, Clube Kwanza-ASA and 1º de Agosto -Akyra Academy.
Basketball African League
Petro face Tigers in debut
Petro de Luanda starts, on April 10, playing in the second edition of the Basketball African League (BAL), against the Cape Twon Tigers, at the Hassan Mostafa Sports Complex, in the city of Cairo (Egypt), stage of the Nile Conference.
The challenge between the Angolan ambassador and Zamalek, holder of the title, in this preliminary qualifying phase for the final stage, is scheduled for the 15th of April, which will oppose the two theoretically stronger teams of the series.
Speaking to the competition’s official portal, the tricolor pole Jone Pedro is optimistic about Petro’s chances, but stresses that this year’s BAL could be more competitive since everyone was able to learn from the previous edition.” In theory, the Petro can appear better and stronger than most of these teams, but that’s not the case. Anyone who underestimates any opponent will pay a high price”, said Pedro in an exclusive interview with BAL.
Asked about his performance in Kigali, the Angolan international admitted that it was one of the best performances of his career. “I felt great, motivated, inspired. It was the result of many years of hard work.
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