Madagascar’s Club Omnisport de La Police Nationale (COSPN) closed their Group D campaign on the road to Basketball Africa League (BAL) beating Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) 66-60 on Sunday, October 23.
COSPN closed the campaign with a perfect 2-0 and a ticket to the Elite 16 round.
Full of twists and turns as both teams battled for victory, with no other stake other than the first place in the group left, it was KPA who fired the first round, led by Kennedy Wachira and Wade Lowman who, each, contributed 6 points, to get a 9-point lead (23-14).
But COSPN closed in, bridging the gap slowly, by edging their opponents in the second quarter (10-9). KPA enjoyed a comfortable lead (32-24) at half-time. Tables were turned KPA’s tactics got exposed afterwards. Taking all the second chances they could, COSPN definitely made it to the front as they finished the third quarter with a three-point lead.
It was all a matter of substance and tactics. Elly Randriamampionona, who seemed to have lost his sharpshooting skills, was the one to lead the charge as COSPN built their lead. He finished the game with 14 points, 2 rebounds and 2 and 4 assists. The 25-year-old was helped in his task by teammate Livio Ratianarivo, who would go on to finish as the game’s top performer with a double-double (12 points, 12 rebounds).
"At first, we were a bit tense. And they had a bit of an advantage, being bigger than us. So we decided to change our style of play and focus on our speed to fend them off," said Ratianarivo.
But the stress of seeing the opponent coming back and forcing them to overtime was what motivated COSPN to keep going.
"When we got the lead, we knew we could hold on till the end. But they kept on fighting and gave us a good run for our money."
Others who contributed to the policemen's success were Orlando Rahajaniaina. The guard knew what to do as he made sure to be at the right place at the right moment to defend and to score. He grabbed four rebounds, and scored a game-high 15 points.
The combined efforts of Anthony Kidong'o, who scored 10 points and picked up 7 rebounds, and Kennedy Wachira, who finished the game with 13 points to his tally, were to no avail as COSPN managed to keep their lead.
That said, COSPN will have to focus on reinforcing their side as they will clash with more physical teams from the continent.
"This is a major issue. We're not that tall, and we all know that it caused some problems for the rebounds. So, I guess this is a sector that needs to be studied and where corrective measures will be taken.”
But for now, they will start preparing for the next round.
"It's going to be tough. But we’re not going unprepared. And we will give it [our] all to have the best possible result when we campaign in the Elite 16."