Day two of the ongoing 2024 BAL Elite 16 East Division qualifiers witnessed interesting matchups as well as upsets as teams continued their fight for the remaining 3 slots in the fourth edition of Basketball Africa League (BAL).
Last Updated on
January 8, 2024
Fanya Nkengasong
Staff Writer
Tigers small forward recovered from a slow start where he went pointless in the first quarter to score 30 in just over 29 minutes and lead his side to a 95-87 win over Tanzania's Pazi.
Mlungisi Ngwenya's charges trailed 25-21 in the opening quarter but Samkelo Cele who failed to score in the opening stanza turned the match in its head with a 16-point performance in the second quarter as Tigers went 29-22 ahead to assume lead.
Pazi were dominated in the third quarter in a 31-19 outcome that gave the hosts a 15- point advantage and despite Pazi winning the last quarter 21-14, it was not enough to turn their tide as they fell by 8 points to set up a must-win clash against familiar foe Dynamo BBC in the final group match.
Coach Mandy Juruni will be thanking his lucky stars after surviving yet another close encounter as his side, City Oilers picked an 84-71 win over JBC of Zimbabwe.
The win comes hot on the heels of another 81-76 performance against COSPN on the opening day, the two victories assuring the 9-time champions a place in the last four with a match in hand.
Parrish Petty led the scores with 29, adding 7 rebounds, 3 steals and one assist as day 1 top scorer for the East Africans Dane Miller Jr adding 14 points to the tally with 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks.
JBC, whose charge was led by Tafadzwa Tela and Saul Phiri with 16 points each as Nyang Wek managed a double-double on 10 points and 13 rebounds with 5 steals, went ahead 22-20 in the first quarter. Oilers then gave a 25-23 performance in the second period to tie the match at halftime on 45 points.
Oilers took a three-point advantage to the final stanza at 65-62, with a 19-09 performance in the final stanza giving Juruni's charges the win.
South Sudanese international Khaman Maluach was, for the second day in a row, the leader for NBA Academy Africa, scoring 23 with 18 rebounds to boot as the youngsters beat Dynamo 76-71.
Amar Diop complimented his excellent numbers with 17 points as Ulrich Chmche also joined the double-digits club with 13 points to his name, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks for the win.
A 22-06 first-quarter lead for the Alfred Baliaba-coached NBA gave them the cushion they needed to hold Dynamo who won all the subsequent quarters 23-22, 21-14 and 21-18 to take a 5-point loss in the non-classification clash.
Club Omnisport de La Police Nationale's (COSPN) forward Elly Randriamampionona shot from all cylinders to power the Malagasy policemen to an 88-57 win over two-time Basketball Africa League (BAL) participants Ferroviario da Beira.
A 17-point performance for Elly in the first half of the match gave his side a 21-point advantage as Beira struggled to protect their rim from the trey master.
The first quarter had ended with the Indian Ocean Islanders leading 22-15 but they pulled away in the second stanza with a 28-14 show to continue their dominance.
Kenneti Mendes, who had been pointless the entire first half, orchestrated a third-quarter comeback attempt, dropping 10 in an 18-9 lead for the Mozambique side to cut their deficit to 12 heading to the final period.
Samuel Adewunmi who did much of the creating in the initial three quarters took over the scoring boots in the final one, scoring 11 to take his tally to 22 as he helped his side go 29-10 ahead for the win.
