Basketball in Africa

Both teams started Sunday’s match on a very aggressive note while at the same time being cautious of committing senseless mistakes.
PLS Hawks took an early 7-4 lead only to see the Cobras fight back to steal it at 12-11. This forced PLS Hawks’ coach Clifford Joubert to call for a time-out and his instructions were well executed by his players who snatched back the lead which they kept until the end of the first quarter – 15-14.

With the score being close, the two teams tried hard to outscore each other in the second quarter, but PLS Hawks held on to their lead. As both teams kept misfiring, the fans waited for six long minutes before Premium Cobras’ captain James Beier scored a free-throw to tie the score at 25-25. But it was once again PLS Hawks who enjoyed a good run, outscoring Premium Cobras 10-0 for a 35-25 half-time lead.

Premium Cobras showed more urgency in their game in the third quarter in an attempt to bridge the gap, but PLS Hawks remained concentrated and did not allow them time to work out their plays.

Spearheaded by Ugandan all-rounder Stephen Omony who scored 23 points, the Hawks maintained their lead and at the end of the third quarter the scoreboard read 52-44.
In the fourth and final quarter of the match, the action on the court kept the spectators on the edge of their seats as Premium Cobras, who got a game-high 24 points from Tanzanian import Abdallah ‘Dulla’ Ramadhan, tried their best to come back. As Premium Cobras sent everything in attack, PLS Hawks’ players committed a lot of fouls, but coach Guy Hall’s guys just could not sink the free-throws they were awarded and this cost them the match.

At the end of the match, Premium Cobras’ team president Roy Collie said he accepted defeat, but complained of an error by the game’s time keeper who let the clock run for six seconds during a time-out.

“I don’t have any excuse for the defeat, but I would like to point out that we are encountering problems to train as we share the Mont Fleuri court with two other teams.
There was also the error by the time-keeper and in six seconds we could have won the match. Overall, I am satisfied with my team’s performance and I would like to congratulate PLS Hawks for their win,” said Collie.
As for PLS Hawks’ manager Jimmy Esparon, he said that “even though my team haven’t reached their peak yet, I am quite satisfied with my players’ performance.”
“The league is far from over and there are some very good teams vying for the league crown. We are one of the contenders and we are ready to face any opponent at any time,” he added.

Results of other matches played during the weekend:

Men’s division 1A
Angels 86 Cascade Bullets 59
SMB Razorbacks 78 Falcons 67

Men’s division 1B
Juniors 92 Ex-Champs 68

Men’s division 2
Beau Vallon Heat 63 LMS Jazz 46
Fire Brigade 58 Baie Ste Anne Dawgz 52
Women’s league
Anse Etoile Stars 72 RA Sisters 36

R. D.

# posted by afrbk : 16:08