TRIPOLI (Libya) - Twenty-four hours after suffering a 96-90 loss to the Spintex Knights, the Guinean team Nabaya Sofas had only one goal in mind. Win!
They stepped onto the Grand Hall floor in Tripoli with a sense of urgency and never slowed down, beating Benin's Energie BC 80-57.
Nabaya's trio of Allen Fordham, Alseny Bah, and Kabinet Kaba combined for 57 of their team's 80 points. Bah went on to set a season-high 21 rebounds.
The Guinean champions dominated defensively, finishing with nine blocks and 13 steals, and denying an Energie BC team that had entered the game on the back of a 92-69 win against the NPA Pythons.
Terrence Thompson of Energie BC set his own season record of 19 rebounds and scored five points. His teammate, Josiah Hammons, was the only Energie BC player to score in the double digits. He finished with 17 points and five assists.
However, with a current rating of points scored and conceded of 149-149, Energie BC will have to wait until Friday's final group game to learn their fate in the Road to BAL tournament.
Nabaya leapfrogged Energie BC in Group B with the win, heating up the race for one of the two spots available for the Elite 16 round in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, in November.
FIBA