RSA - Soweto Panthers are crowned the PBL Champions at Mandeville

JOHANNESBURG (PBL Finals) - The atmosphere at Mandeville Indoor Center, in Betrams, Johannesburg, was electric before tip off as fans and dignitaries came from far and wide to witness the first PBL final in over 9 years between the undefeated Soweto Panthers, who went into the game having won all 9 of their regular season games and the Kwazulu Marlins who had a 7 and 2 regular season record.

Amongst the dignitaries in attendance were Gert Oosthuizen the Deputy Minister of Sport; Greg Fredericks from the Department of Sports and Recreation; Gideon Sam the Lotto Chariman; Arnaug Sevaux a Fiba representative; Zone 6 Basketball Chairman Anibal Manave, Sprite Senior Brand Manager Sgwili Gumede and the South African Men and Women national teams who were traveling to Zimbabwe immediately after the game.

The Panthers, who have 8 players in the SA National team, were looking to make history as the first Professional Basketball team to go an entire season undefeated by beating the Marlins in the final.

The Marlins had other ideas and brought in veteran center Craig Gilchrist and big man Kurt Hold to bolster their presence down low. Marlins guard, Matthew Geschke from the USA, who can shoot well from the perimeter, did not play in the final.

The general consensus amongst basketball fans before the final was that the Panthers, who averaged 84 points per game and held their opponents to only 60 points per game heading into the final, were going to walk over the Marlins who scored 78 points per game and allowed 71 points per game in their nine regular season games.

Before the game Myles Delport said he was going to use all the big men he had at his disposal and that proved effective as the Marlins came out blazing in the first quarter on the back of Kurt Holds 9 point performance to give the Marlins a 22-19 lead going into the second quarter.

The Panthers found it difficult to match up with their man to man defense down low against the Marlins version of the twin towers, Kurt Hold and Craig Gilchrist. Their rotation on the help defense in the low block left a lot to be desired and ended up in Craig Gilchrist connecting with Kurt Hold who was often wide open inside for an easy lay up.

The Panthers run and gun attacking offense was non-existent and played right into the hands of the Marlins who preferred to set up in a half-court game that has a much slower pace.

In the second quarter Soweto stepped things up on the defensive end and allowed Kwazulu 13 points while Lesego Molebatsi and Neo Mothiba's combined 12 points gave Soweto the offensive momentum they needed going into half time. At the half the Panthers had turned things around and were leading 41-35 after scoring 22 points as a team in the second period.

At this point the crowd was going absolutely nuts at the possibility that they were going to witness an unexpectedly close game.

At half-time the crowd was treated to a second helping of Zulu dancers who entertained the crowd with traditional dancing.

In the third quarter both teams were dead even and scored 20 points each. Christopher Clunie from the States lit it up for the Marlins on the offensive end with nine 3rd quarter points. Neo Mothiba could have started a bush fire with his 8 points in the 3rd Quarter. The Panthers maintained their 6 point lead after 3 quarters 61-55.

With the crowd backing both teams, the fourth and final quarter was a roller coaster ride of emotion and drama for everyone in attendance. The Panthers were in the bonus after committing 5 team fouls early in the fourth quarter. The Marlins went to the free throw line 4 times and had 8 points from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter alone. Lowell Mndaweni, Craig Gilchrist, Christopher Clunie and youngster Nkululeko Mtelane all went to the line and were 8 for 8 in the fourth quarter from the free throw line.

The Panthers lost the momentum and made silly defensive errors that led to the Marlins taking a 76-75 lead with a huge Christopher Clunie 3 pointer with under 2 minutes to play in the fourth quarter. The panthers replied with a Lesego Molebatsi field goal to take a 1 point lead with under a minute to go, 77-76. Vusi Dlamini answered the call for the Marlins with a lay-up that had the Marlins leading 78-77 with 30 seconds left to play. But sensing that the championship was slipping away, Panthers captain Neo Mothiba, led by example and nailed a long 2 pointer from the corner to give Soweto a 79-78 lead.

The Marlins had possession with 15 seconds left in the game and had an opportunity to win the game with a field goal or tie the game with one free throw. Christopher Clunie drove inside the key and attempted to pass the ball to Craig Gilchrist, who was wide open but the ball was tipped away by the Panthers with 0.8 seconds left on the clock. The Marlins in bounded the ball to Christopher Clunie who managed to get off a turnaround prayer from beyond the arch before the time expired but it hit the back of the rim and rimmed out.

The Panthers held on to win the game and the championship 79-78 in front of a packed crowd. Neo Mothiba who finished the game with a game high 21 points off of 7 for 11 shooting, 4 rebounds and 3 steals was named Most Valuable player. Christopher Clunie of the Marlins finished the game with 20 points. The Marlins shot 46% as a team and had 16 turnovers while Soweto had a much better day at the office shooting 55% as a team with a total of 13 team turnovers.

The PBL season is over and the final standings are the Magic, Suns and Olympians finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively in the Inland Conference whilst the Eagles, Kings and Tuskers ended 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively in the Coastal Conference.

I take my hats off to Sprite and Supersport who brought back professional basketball to South Africa with their respective sponsorships. I hope that this relationship doesn't end in season 1.

The 2nd and full season of the Professional Basketball League kicks off on the 5th of May this year with a Knock-out competition and 2 new franchises in Port Elizabeth and Bloemfontein.

For highlights of the final and my trip to the NBA All-star game in Las Vegas tune in to the Sprite Basketball Show on Wednesday at 8pm CAT on Supersport.

Tshepo Ditshego
FIBA Official Correspondent in South Africa