D'Agosto are the #AfricaLeague 2019 Champions
LUANDA (Angola) - By beating Association Sportive de Sale 83-71 on Sunday in the FINAL of the Africa Basketball League 2019 in the Angolan capital Luanda, Primeiro D'Agosto won a record ninth African title
LUANDA (Angola) - By beating Association Sportive de Sale 83-71 on Sunday in the FINAL of the FIBA Africa Basketball League 2019 in the Angolan capital Luanda, Primeiro D'Agosto won a record ninth African title.
Powered by a tireless home crowd and a terrific team effort (21 assists against AS Sale's 12) D'Agosto not only dethroned AS Sale from the continental crown, but they also regained their first African trophy since 2013.
Eduardo Mingas inspired the Angolans with team-high 20 points and 11 rebounds, Manny Quezada added 17 and Angola international duo of Hermenegildo Dos Santos and Islando Manuel combined for 22 points for the Angolans.
Mingas was named the Most Valuable Player, and he also claimed the Best RebounderAward with 23 in the FINAL FOUR.
Age is definitely just a number for Eduardo Mingas 🇦🇴
— Africa Basketball League (@AfricaLeague) May 26, 2019
✍ Latest updates of the #AfricaLeague Final: https://t.co/7QMnPRLppV pic.twitter.com/xXlj3s64ru
Even though 2016 MVP Arnold Wayne (21 points) - who did a bit of everything for the Moroccans - came up with a number of clash plays silencing the crowd, D'Agosto's intense defense proved costly for the Moroccans who closed their FIBA Africa Basketball League 2019 campaign with 5.5-1 record.
⛔ REJECTED! by Wayne Arnold #ASSalé
— Africa Basketball League (@AfricaLeague) May 26, 2019
Watch the #AfricaLeague Final LIVE here: https://t.co/RSH4RKVht6 pic.twitter.com/OUZQOKiJVt
On the other hand, D'Agosto extended their winning streak to a 7-0 record from a campaign that started in March in Cairo.
Paulo Macedo, a former 1992 Barcelona Olympian, adds a second ABL trophy to his trophy cabinet as a coach since 2013.
While no club retained their African crown since D'Agosto did it in 2012, the new African champions maintained Angolan clubs' tradition of winning a continental trophy as hosts.
In the Third-Place game, Smouha SC of Egypt outscored JS Kairouan of Tunisia 69-58.
#######
About FIBA
FIBA (fiba.basketball) - the world governing body for basketball - is an independent association formed by 213 National Basketball Federations throughout the world. It is recognized as the sole competent authority in basketball by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
For further information about FIBA, visit fiba.basketball or follow FIBA on facebook.com/fiba, twitter.com/fiba, instagram.com/fiba and youtube.com/fiba.