Bangui win West Division Elite 16

 

YAOUNDE (Cameroon) -Bangui Sporting Club are headed to the Basketball Africa League (BAL) with a huge moral booster after winning the West Division Elite 16 in the last two seconds of the Final against FUS Rabat on Sunday.

Less than 24 hours after edging out Al Ahly Benghazi 87-85 in the final seconds of the game, Bangui repeated its last-second lethal shooting, beating Rabat 93-90.

Rolly Fula tricked a defender to the wrong side before triggering the game-winning three-pointer that saw Bangui close the Elite 16 with three straight wins and an overall 4-1 mark.

Evans Ganapamo attacks the rim

The win came four days after Bangui suffered an excruciating 90-89 overtime loss against Rabat.

All Bangui starters scored 10 points or more each, but for the third straight game it was sixth-man Yasser Kamayangue, who made the biggest difference, leading the Central African Republic champions with a game-high of 17 points.

TURNING POIINT: Bangui entered the final quarter with a 69-67 lead but in a turn of events, FUS Rabat adjusted offensively hitting four three-points that gave them an eight-point lead 80-72 with six minutes left.

However, the Bangui-based side never backed down, and tied the contest at 90-90 with 49 seconds courtesy of a Kamayangue free-throw.  

Rabat's Yacine Baeri turned the ball over with 30 seconds left for a critical possession that determined the outcome of the game. After an inbound pass, Max Kouguere found Fula who hit a dagger that hurt FUS Rabat's pride.

HERO: There wasn't one particular hero for Bangui as the win was clearly the result of a team effort. 

And although Prince Ifeanyi Orizu led Rabat's offense with a game-high of 21 points, and three other of his teammates contributed 12 points or more each, credit must given to whom is due, and that goes straight to Bangui Sporting Club, who hosted this year's West Division Elite 16 in neighbouring Cameroon.   

STATS DON'T LIE:  There is no question that playing without injured Aliou Diarra and Soufiane Benhmine, two starters who contributed enormously for Rabat's qualification for the BAL season 4, was a tough experience, and this was reflected in the way Rabat's bench was outscored 32-20.

in an evenly-matched clash, every possession matters, and making free-throws even more, but the Moroccan champions could only make 8 of their 13 free-throw attempts. 

BOTTOM LINE: This was a match fro bragging rights as both teams secured their maiden goal of qualifying to the BAL 24 hours earlier. 

It was an entertaining encounter that registered eight lead changes and kept fans at the Arena on the edge.

WHAT THEY SAID: "We are going to celebrate tonight. We are happy to qualify this team to the BAL for the first time, Personally, for my next BAL experience, I am going to win that title. i have been there twice.... Whatever it is, it's title time for me.." - Liz Mills, Bangui Sporting Club head coach.

FIBA