Inter Clube back to winning ways, turn focus on knock-out stages
After going down 96-89 to maiden-title-chasing REG, Angola's Inter Clube came back for their third match pumped up for a great show, running the score against Overdose Up Station for a 76-43 win
ALEXANDRIA (Egypt) - After going down 96-89 to maiden-title-chasing Rwanda Energy Group (REG), Angola's Inter Clube came back for their third match pumped up for a great show, running the score against Overdose Up Station for a 76-43 win.
Skipper Nadir Manuel led the charge with a double-double of 12 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks with Christina Matiquite emerging as the second-best scorer with 11 and one more rebound than her skipper, 4 steals, 3 assists and 2 blocks.
Veteran Sandrine Ayangma was, for the second game in a row, the best player for the Cameroonian side, finishing with 15 points, 4 assists and 2 rebounds in the loss.
Coach Elisa Pires says her team needed this win, not only for the motivation but also for the rankings as they shift their focus on the knock-out stages.
"I am already thinking about the quarters as there cannot be slip-ups on that level. We need to be at our best for a chance to go all the way to playing the championship match hence the work begun after we lost to REG," Pires said.
She continued: "We have big adjustments to make and we have to make them as early as now. Today's game and the next one against ASPAC are meant for us to try out the changes we are incorporating in our plays ahead of the quarters so they are very important."
Her sentiments were echoed by former Africa Champions Cup Most Valuable Player (MVP) Italee Lucas who said the team needed this result as they worked on correcting their mistakes against REG and keep the fight for the title going.
Pires' opposite Roger Dassi, whose charges were coming off a 77-52 win against Benin's ASPAC blamed lack of creativity for the loss.
"We lost our main guard to injury in the last match and that affected the way we were moving the ball today. We had no one to keep the creativity on the paint," Dassi noted.
"The game plan was to use perimeter shots more, having realised that we were not penetrating to the paint but my players failed to execute on that as well as I would have wanted them to.
"All the same, we were up against a team that was better than us, we had a chance to play for better numbers but we did not. We will work on that going to the next match against Equity Bank and come out ready for a win," Dassi offered.
FIBA