DAR ES SALAAM (Tanzania) - Hosts Dar City Basketball enjoyed a dominant performance on the road to the BAL Group D, opening group action in front of an enthusiastic crowd with a 102-50 victory against Djabal from Comoros.
Powered by Raphiael Putney — no stranger to the BAL — who scored more than half of the team's total, Dar City got off to a flying start, and it was clear from the outset that this would be a one-sided affair.
Ultimately, the star-studded Tanzanian team, which boasts two-time BAL winner Solo Diabate among its ranks, lived up to the hype by winning by 52 points.
TURNING POINT: The Mamadou Gueye-coached side's 13-0 start was just a glimpse of what was to come in the rest of the match.
Djoumoi Mohamed's three-point shot momentarily halted Dar's run as they led 26–11 in the opening quarter.
Any hopes that Djabal would recover from their slow start and put up a fight in the subsequent quarters were dashed when Dar shut out the Islanders 17–7 in the opening five minutes of the second quarter, making it 42–18.
The 24-point deficit was enough for coach Gueye to entrust part of his bench with the action, and the side ran up the score to 60–24 as they headed for the half-time break.
The third and final quarters turned into a display of skill for Dar City, who had a height and wingspan advantage over their rivals.
Despite Djabal opening the second half with a 6-0 run, Putney put Dar back in the game. Diabate and Deng Angok Yak Deng pushed the scoreline to 70-30 with just over four minutes left in the third quarter.
Putney scored 16 in the final quarter, which Dar City won 22–13, to seal the victory.
HERO: Returning to the group phase of the Road to BAL since his Cape Town Tigers debut, American power forward Putney was unstoppable, shooting 9-for-19 from range and missing only once in 14 attempts in the paint. He finished with a competition-high 55 points in just under 38 minutes.
STATS DON'T LIE: Dar City's conversion rate proved superior to Djabal's as the former went 14-of-43 from range, against 3-of-16. However, having no response for the towering duo of Putney and former NBA star Hasheem Thabeet who led the side's defense, picking 12 boards, was Djabal's main undoing.
Dar dominated the paint 50-26, converted their 12 offensive rebounds to 13 second-chance points and went 16-6 on fast breaks.
Djabal, however, did well to protect their rim after turning the ball over as they conceded 14 points from 24, while scoring 13 points off Dar City's 15.
BOTTOM LINE: Dar City's recruiting ahead of the Road to BAL Group Phase has turned heads, and as the side moves a win away from cementing a place in the Elite 16, the squad is living up to expectations.
Will they surmount Namuwongo Blazers' onslaught to remain perfect in the three-team competition?
WHAT THEY SAID: "My team held me down, giving me the ball, for the 55 points and that's a blessing for my career. We are here as a new team but I think we have great chemistry and we have to continue playing together and do the right thing for the team. Coming into this match we did not want to go easy on them and coach wanted us to show that we will not go easy on anyone," Dar City Forward Raphiael Putney.
FIBA