05 February 2013
ZAMBIA : Matero Magic, Unza Pacers Share Spoils
FORMER national basketball champions Matero Magic and their bitter rivals UNZA Pacers shared spoils at the weekend after both won one and lost a game as they squared off in the best-of-five Zambia Basketball Association (ZBA) National Championships play-offs finals.
In the first game of the play-offs played on Saturday, Magic looked to be in the title-winning mood beating the Pacers 52-48 to take a 1-0 lead in games played at the National Sports Development Centre (NASDEC) in Lusaka.
But tables turned in the second game on Sunday as the UNZA students turned on the style and completely outran the Matero side bashing them 55-41 to level the series at 1-1.
The two sides go to battle again this weekend playing on Saturday and Sunday in game three and game four to decide whether the title destiny would need a game five as defending champions Heroes would be watching from the stands after being eliminated early.
As Pacers and Magic were just starting their men play-offs, the women opted to take the battle to game five after defending champions UNZA Honeys were shocked by the fighting spirit of rivals Shells, who flattened a 2-0 deficit to level the series at 2-2.
Going into the weekend needing to win both matches, Shells duly delivered, winning the third game 58-43 to reduce arrears to 2-1 lead and then added more spice to the play-offs by edging the Honeys 49-47 to level the series at 2-2.
The amazing fight back from the Shells have just given the deciding fifth game all the pre-match excitement it needs to make this Saturday's game a spectacle.
In the first game of the play-offs played on Saturday, Magic looked to be in the title-winning mood beating the Pacers 52-48 to take a 1-0 lead in games played at the National Sports Development Centre (NASDEC) in Lusaka.
But tables turned in the second game on Sunday as the UNZA students turned on the style and completely outran the Matero side bashing them 55-41 to level the series at 1-1.
The two sides go to battle again this weekend playing on Saturday and Sunday in game three and game four to decide whether the title destiny would need a game five as defending champions Heroes would be watching from the stands after being eliminated early.
As Pacers and Magic were just starting their men play-offs, the women opted to take the battle to game five after defending champions UNZA Honeys were shocked by the fighting spirit of rivals Shells, who flattened a 2-0 deficit to level the series at 2-2.
Going into the weekend needing to win both matches, Shells duly delivered, winning the third game 58-43 to reduce arrears to 2-1 lead and then added more spice to the play-offs by edging the Honeys 49-47 to level the series at 2-2.
The amazing fight back from the Shells have just given the deciding fifth game all the pre-match excitement it needs to make this Saturday's game a spectacle.
# posted by afrbk : 15:32
