GNBC book date with Patriots for BAL Division East Qualifiers Final

KIGALI (Rwanda) - Madagascar side GNBC will face hosts Patriots in the Final of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) Division East Qualifiers on Sunday in what is expected to be a thrilling encounter at the splendid Kigali Arena. 

GNBC overturned a 21-point deficit to stun the Mozambican champions 94-90 and automatically book a slot in the inaugural edition of the BAL competition that will see 12 of the best teams in Africa competing at the highest level. 

Constant Fabrice Mandimbison, who has been very consistent in this competition, registered an impressive double double with 22 points and 10 rebounds to inspire the army side to a historic place at the high table of African club basketball. 

"THERE IS MORE TO BASKETBALL THAN SIZE. WE ARE SMALL BUT WE PLAY TO OUR STRENGTHS AND IN THIS GAME, WE DECIDED TO RUN THE FLOOR IN THE SECOND HALF. WE ALSO PICKED REBOUNDS THAT HELPED US TO CONSOLIDATE."- Raharidera

Ferroviario de Maputo led 28-17 at the end of the first quarter and looked the part thanks to the scoring prowess of small forward Alvaro Calvo Masa who had scored 14 points by the half time break. 

GNBC stepped up their defense and limited Ferroviario to 19 points in the third quarter while scoring 29 on the other end of the court to bring the scoreline to within six points. 

The Madagascar side took the lead for the first time with two minutes to play courtesy of  Elly Randriamampionona's layup before Roberson Razafimanantsoa added another basket to open up a three-point lead. 

Ferroviario panicked under pressure and as the Rwandan fans chose to cheerlead the Malagasy players, the latter built more confidence and in the last one minute Francis Mory scored twice on the charity line to ensure that GNBC were in charge of their destiny. 

"We won this game for Fiary Rakotonirina who got injured during the game and was stretched off the court. I told the players , let us do this for him. We really want to also thank the Rwandan fans who supported us. They made us feel at home," explained 
Lova Raharidera, GNBC head coach. 

"There is more to basketball than size. We are small but we play to our strengths and in this game, we decided to run the floor in the second half and play solid defense. That helped us a lot to catch up."

 Meanwhile, hosts Patriots defeated Ugandan side City Oilers for the second time in two months in this same competition to walk away with the bragging rights and a place in the prestigious BAL Regular Season. 

Patriots point guard Guibert Nijimbere came off the bench to put up a man-of-the-match performance with 14 points, three assists and three rebounds as the home side put ear-to-ear smiles on their fans faces. 

Nijimbere was named the man-of-the-match

Carey Odhiambo's side led at the end of each quarter and according to him, his players attitude was very key to their victory. Patriots were clinical on both ends of the court and the Kenyan tactician revealed that this game was won in the paint. 

The City Oilers made 20 turnovers, managed just eight points from second chances while their opponents scored double that from second chances and registered 15 steals to punish them by converting 22 points from the Oilers turnovers. 

"Patriots tried to take the ball away from our guards' hands and it worked well for them. We did not share the ball the way we usually do so I do not think that we executed tonight," lamented Mandy Juruni City Oilers head coach after the game. 

Odhiambo will be proud of his bench players who scored 43 of the team's 81 points with highlight performances from Nijimbere, Ally Ruzigande who added 10 points and seven rebounds as well as George Blakeney who scored eight points and four rebounds. 

GNBC and Patriots have clinched two of the three available slots for Division East in BAL 2020, however, the other slot will be awarded to the winner of the third place game between Ferroviario de Maputo and City Oilers. 

FIBA