HOIMA (Uganda) - Madagascar had a tough start to the campaign, losing their first three games, but they finished strongly with a dominant 88–55 win over Ushindzi de Ouani on Saturday.
“Our journey got off to a rough start; we didn’t begin the first game well. We tried to settle into the competition as we went along, but unfortunately, we lost our first three matches. It was only toward the end that we really found our rhythm and rediscovered the desire to play—earlier on, the pressure was just too much for my guys,” Madagascar head coach Tojo Hery Rasamoelina summed up his team’s performance.
COSPN suffered heavy defeats at the hands of Urunani and Nam Blazers, both of whom have plenty of BAL experience, before falling short against Patriot. Coach Rasamoelina admits that his team is not quite there yet.
“For us, the level of competition was very high—much higher than what we’re used to back home. Since Madagascar is an island, we rarely get to play in international matches. For us, this has been a valuable learning experience; we’re truly discovering the African basketball landscape, specifically in this region of the continent. We hope to come back much stronger for future editions of the Road to BAL.”
After completing the tournament with a 1-3 record, coach Rasamoelina says valuable lessons have been learned that will help elevate the game on the islands.
“For us, this has been a truly valuable experience—it’s helped us understand which path to take moving forward and what the key focus areas for our basketball development should be because we are talking about high-level sport here, so you have to look at the details. We were able to see how others train and how others play. And that will be a great help to basketball in Madagascar,” Rasamoelina said.
FIBA