AS Nigelec, ABC inch closer to the next round of BAL Qualifiers

COTONOU (Benin) – Nigerien champions AS Nigelec and Abidjan Basketball Club at the end of Day 3 games are the two teams that are inching their ways to getting the two tickets at stake in this Preliminary stage of the Group B Road to BAL.

The Niger side took another bold step towards being the best side at this year’s FIBA Africa Zone  3bQualifiers recording their second win over GRA Braves of Ghana 64-46 points and now stand at the top of the table with 5 points from 2 wins and a loss.

In a game that both sides needed to stand a chance to qualify, it was AS Nigelec that showed more desire to win the game despite ending the first half trailing 18-22.

However, the second half took a different turn as Nigelec out scored their Ghanian opponents 16-12 to end the third quarter on a tie of 34 points apiece.

 

"OUR OBJECTIVE COMING FOR THE QUALIFIERS IS TO QUALIFY FOR THE MAIDEN EDITION OF THE BAL AND WE ARE EXCITED ABOUT HOW THINGS ARE TURNING OUT."- KARIMU

Nigelec came out smoking in the last quarter to score 30 points while Braves could only manage 12 points as they closed out the game 64-46 points to win.

AS Nigelec's Issoufou Mbumouni emerged the best performer with 22 points, 2 assists and 10 rebounds while Eli Abraham followed closely with 16 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals and Dele Ademola weighed in with 13 points, 3 assists and 10 rebounds.

Braves Head Coach, Seth Okine expressed his sadness at the post match press conference over the loss as he blamed his side’s defeat to fatigue.

 "As a coach, you will want to win. Unfortunately, we have not had a win yet and in today’s game, we played a good team that have good talents on their team."

On his dream for a ticket to the next round of BAL,"we can’t say much about that. Our focus is the next game and we will take each game as it comes. We will go out there and do our best and get a win."

AS Nigelec coach, Amadou Goukoye Karimu praised his opponents for coming out strong and proving a point which he said served as a wake up call for his team.

"Our focus is on the game against host ASPAC and the result of the game will determine our fate and what we will do."

"Our objective coming for the qualifiers is to qualify for the maiden edition of the BAL and we are excited about how things are turning out and how far we can push ourselves."

In the second game of the day, 2014 FIBA Africa Zone 3 champions, ABC had an easy ride over NPA Pythons of Liberia as they secured a 76-62 win to rank second on the table with 4 points from 2 wins.

ABC team captain, Stephane Konate came to the party as he scored 19 points, 1 assist and 2 rebounds while Kouadio Micheal Kouadio weighed in with 17 points and 4 rebounds.

 

Konate told FIBA.basketball, "Our team is very young so it is a new ABC team that is here to show class. The two wins are good for us and our chances are right in our hands. We want to continue like that and win more games."

FIBA