Africa-Press – South-Africa. Johannesburg’s Made By Ball head coach Sam Vincent has attributed his team’s revival in the Basketball Africa League in Rwanda to a growing chemistry in a squad that had little time together leading into the tournament.
MBB produced an inspired performance to beat home team Armée Patriotique Rwandaise (APR) 94-88 on Thursday, stunning the large crowd in the BK Arena in Kigali.
It was MBB’s second consecutive victory in the Nile conference and means they are one win away from booking a spot in the Pretoria playoffs in two weeks.
They can wrap up their qualification on Saturday with a win over Nairobi City Thunder, whom they narrowly beat in their first fixture during the week.
“We will see you in Pretoria in the playoffs,” a confident Vincent said.
Asked what had changed the team’s performance from the opening games against APR and Al Ahly, Vincent said they were starting to find each other.
“There’s a growth in the team,” he said.
“We put new guys in together and though they are talented, it took time for them to get the chemistry.
“Now the guys are joking together and are bonding. You could see that on the floor.
“They are covering for each other and that makes us a strong team now.”
Playing in front of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, US import Jovan Mooring, who Vincent said reminded him of former Detroit Pistons guard and two-time NBA champion Isiah Thomas, put up a healthy stat line of 29 points, eight rebounds and five assists in the APR game.
APR took a 39-38 lead into halftime, but key players Mooring and Teafale Lenard Jnr turned on their A game in the third quarter, making important shots.
Clutch three-pointers from Robinson Odoch Opong and Lebesa Selepe helped them gain the advantage as MBB ended the third quarter with a 67-58 lead.
Though APR were resilient and at one point reduced MBB’s lead to 81-76, the Joburg side held on and were able to close out the game.
Vincent, an NBA champion in 1986, applauded Tennessee Tech centre David Craig, who played more than 24 minutes, finishing with nine points, 10 rebounds and two blocks for the South African team.
The 21-year-old Craig is a player the coach had said lacked experience at the continental level.
“He’s a big kid and eager to get better at basketball,” Vincent said.
“In the APR game, he really helped us offensively and defensively; he did a good job.
“He almost got a double-double in his stats. I was impressed.”
The City Thunder team MBB will face on Saturday have yet to win in four games.
But the Kenyans have had strong third and fourth quarters, as was seen in the MBB game, where the Gauteng team were helped by a dagger three-pointer to clinch the game with only three seconds remaining.
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