03 April 2013

TANZANIA : Pazi Cruise Past Tanga United

PAZI had to overcome an early scare to coast to a comfy 64-45 victory over hosts Tanga United in an exciting Men's National Basketball League (NBL) Group B game played at the Harbours court.
Martin Kolikol drained 15 points and pulled down a few key rebounds as Pazi outlasted Tanga United, while United's Oscar Olar scored the game's highest points with 17.
The win was the Dar es Salaam-based outfit's second following a 20-0 win and two points they had been given without having to sweat it out when their opponents, the Oilers, failed to honour their opening day fixture.
For the hosts, it was their second back to back loss after Monday's 115-48 defeat to ABC, also from Dar es Salaam. The result continued false start by the home teams, save for Bandari who got walkover over Savio in the opening day of the weeklong championship.
Pazi's walkover win apparently had off-putting effect as they showed lack of stamina and the momentum of the tournament, as Tanga United got off to a dream start opening, a 8-2 lead early on.
However, Pazi woke up from their slumber before it was too late and tied the score with a trio of 2-pointers before taking a two-point advantage, which however, was short-lived as United drew level, 10-10 midway through the opening quarter.
Pazi used an 8-1 spurt to open up a 7-point advantage at the end of the first quarter. Pazi would see their lead drop to four points in the second quarter, statistically won by United, 12-9, but the former maintained their distance from the hosts, who were enjoying the support of a sparse crowd, mostly Tanga Queens players.
The momentum would quickly swing back, however, and Pazi would go on to open a double-digit advantage, settling for 46-30 third quarter advantage and their lead never dropped to one digit thereafter.
The fourth quarter was a closely contested affair, with Pazi running out with 18-15 run that completed a deserved 64-45 victory. "We did not play the way we would like early in the game, but we came back strongly later on and you could see the game looked much easier for us in the end," said Pazi head coach Ramadhani Kalema.
"Tanga United are a good team, probably they lacked good preparations, they were playing as individuals not as a team," he added. With two wins on hand Pazi will be looking to bolster their qualifying chances when they take on JKT at the Mkwakwani Stadium this evening.
"It would be a good match, very tough because we know each other very well, we're looking forward to it," Kalema said as he spoke of today's encounter against JKT, who will go all out looking for a victory after Monday's walkover loss to Mipango, when they couldn't show up for their opening fixture.
Elsewhere, Tanga Kings were given a walkover in their Group A match after their opponents Arusha Kings failed to turn up for the match, which had been scheduled to take place at the Harbours court yesterday.
Meanwhile, men's defending champions, Savio had a day to forget when they gifted Bandari Tanga a walkover, after arriving late at the Mkwakwani Stadium, where their fixture had been scheduled to kick off at 1500hrs.
Tanzania Basketball Federation (TBF) official Manase Zablon confirmed that Bandari were awarded two points and a 20-0 as per regulations governing the tournament. As of yesterday, only two teams, namely the Oilers from Dar es Salaam and Arusha Kings had not yet reported for the tournament.
Vijana opened their campaign with a 63-38 win over Tanga Kings on Monday. Mwalimu Heri scored 14 points and Andrew Shalengo added 11 to lead the way for Vijana. Ibrahim Oiko scored 12 points for Tanga Kings.

Comments: Post a Comment



<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?