CAIRO — Petro de Luanda convincingly beat Ferroviário da Beira 101-76 on Saturday night in the Basketball Africa League in Cairo, while Nile Conference hosts Al Ahly scraped past City Oilers 72-70.
Both Petro and Ahly have two wins from as many games, having both played Uganda’s City Oilers and Mozambique’s Beira so far.
Petro captain Carlos Morais led from the front, scoring 12 points in the first quarter to put the Angolan side 21-11 ahead. Najeal Young kept Beira within touching distance, scoring 15 points in the first half – including 13 in the second quarter – as the Mozambican side reduced the deficit slightly to 47-39 by half-time.
As was the case in their previous game against City Oilers, Petro’s depth and experience saw them pull clear in the second half. Damian Hollis was influential at both ends of the court, and Ater Majok and Glofate Buiamba caused problems for Beira too. Petro led 78-56 heading into the final quarter.
Their free-scoring form continued in the final quarter, with coach José Neto giving BAL Elevate player Seifeldin Hendawy a substantial run this time after his brief cameo against City Oilers. The Egyptian teenager did not disappoint. Petro finished with 12 different scorers in an emphatic win.
Hollis, speaking in the mixed zone after the match, attributed their early BAL success to lessons from the national championship which Petro recently won.
The American said: “Our Angolan championship tested us and we were in certain situations that helped us grow, so I think us being together is one of our greatest attributes besides our IQ and depth.
“I really give a lot of credit to the coaches. They help us prepare mentally for the game and physically.”
In the late evening tip off, Nuni Omot was on fire from the get-go again for Al Ahly, who took a 20-14 lead over City Oilers by the end of the first quarter.
Oilers remained within touching distance at 28-24, but a strong block from Omar Oraby on Falando Jones’ attempted shot swung the momentum back in Ahly’s favour as they scored a three at the other end.
The hosts went on a 12-3 run to close out the half, with Omot landing a three to send Ahly into the break 40-27 up.
1:25
Al Ahly beat City Oiler in tight affair
Al Ahly defeat City Oilers 72-70 in BAL.
Ahly started the second half with five unanswered points as Oraby not only remained immense defensively, but also scored a spectacular dunk at the other end. The tone had been set for the rest of the third quarter and City Oilers struggled to keep pace as Agustí Julbe’s side raced into a 61-36 lead.
However, City Oilers refused to go down without a fight and a remarkable effort from the Ugandan side saw them reduce the deficit to two points at 72-70 with 26 seconds remaining despite the best efforts of the home crowd, who had suddenly been awoken after a period of relative silence.
A late attempt at a buzzer-beating three from Titus Odeke came off the rim. Despite Germaine Roebuck Jr.’s heroic 28-point game, Ahly held on for a scrappy win.
Al Ahly coach Augusti Julbe admitted: “As I said to my players in the locker room, everything that happened today is my fault. I accept this responsibility.
“Three days ago, I was talking to you about respect for other teams, respect for other players. I think my players – also because of my fault – didn’t respect them for the whole game.”
Elaborating further, he admitted that he had experimented with some combinations with the long-term goal in mind during the fourth quarter rather than simply trying to kill off the game.
In the mixed zone, Player of the Match Nuni Omot said: “We can’t take anybody lightly. Obviously, we were up 30 and they came back. That’s what happens when we don’t take teams serious, so we’ve got to take every game serious and just try to finish it while we have the chance.”
Ahly and City Oilers will have Sunday off to reflect, while Beira will be straight back in action against Guinea’s Seydou Legacy Athlétique Club (SLAC) and Petro against Cape Town Tigers.
The BAL airs on ESPN in Africa (DStv 218 and 2190. Follow the schedule and scores here.
