NAIROBI (Kenya) - Dar City continued their unbeaten run on the road to their BAL debut, winning their second Elite 16 East Division match against the Bravehearts of Malawi 93–75, and moving closer to the last four.
Nisre Zouzoua led the attack, scoring a game-high 28 points and adding seven rebounds and three steals for an efficiency rating of 29. Three more players scored in double digits, securing Dar City's second consecutive victory.
Zouzoua's performance was complemented by Solo Diabaté's 14 assists, while the game's top scorer, Deng Angok Yak Deng, scored 17 points, one more than Youssou Ndoye, who came off the bench. Raphael Putney added 15 points.
In contrast to their opening match, where they had a slow start, the Tanzanian side coached by Mamadou Gueye enjoyed early dominance, leading 10–4. Putney led the charge with eight points in a 23–15 opening quarter.
Ndoye got the second quarter going. Zouzoua, who had scored five in the opening quarter, got to ten points in the first half of the period, taking Dar City to 32–20.
The Ivorian international added another ten points in the remaining time to make it 46-30, before Vincent Masiyano's buzzer-beating three ended the half at 46-33.
The Bravehearts could not find a way to beat the Tanzanians in the third quarter. Gueye's team turned up the heat, with Diabate getting them to the 50-point mark.
Zouzoua then shot from range to make it 53-34 — the biggest lead so far. Four more shots from behind the arc all but won the match for Dar City, who dominated the quarter 32–10.
In the final stanza, Gueye gave his reserve players a chance on the court, emboldening the Malawians to play for a 32-15 final quarter show, but it was a little too little too late to change the final result.
"We are happy with the back-to-back wins but we still have some work to do to get a better rhythm in the matches. We had a better start than we did yesterday, executed together as a unit and used our chances to pull away when we could. We will keep the momentum going heading to the final group match, bring the same energy and heart," Dar City's Nisre Zouzoua.
FIBA