Madagascan outfit COSPN qualified for the Elite 16 round of the Road to BAL 2024 by seeing off Beau Vallon Heat, a Seychellois 76-57 in a one-sided game on Sunday, October 8. The hosts will fly to Johannesburg later this month in a bid to reach the BAL final round. The Seychellois were never a real threat to COSPN’s victorious march. They came up with some opposition late in the game, when everything was said and done, and the case rested. ALSO READ: BAL: Two clubs pull out of qualifiers It was only then that they outscored the locals 23-19. Before that, Beau Vallon Heat suffered to get their game going. COSPN had an early 16-9 lead, only to score 21 points in the second quarter and lead by as many as 14 points by half-time. Along came the third quarter, and with it, another round of defeat for Beau Vallon, as COSPN walked away with a 20-11 run. The rest, as the saying goes, is history. Livio Ratianarivo and Bishop Coulter will go down in history books as the ones who led the Madagascan outfit to victory in Groupe E’s finale. ALSO READ: A sneak peek into BAL 2024 qualifying round Ratianarivo came up with a double-double to his credit, scoring 21 points and grabbing 11 rebounds with 32 minutes on the court. He had quite some numbers to his name, scoring three out of his six attempts from behind the arc and 4-to-8 from the charity line. He also added 4 assists and 1 steal. Coulter proved to be an essential piece of COSPN’s roster as he sank three out of four from behind the arc, and a remarkable 8-to-12 on field goals. He accounted for 21 points and four rebounds, as well as 2 assists and 4 steals. Beau Vallon had three players finishing in double digit, with James Oliseh scoring 20 points and 13 rebounds, and Timmy Adam and Denzel Mutyambizi accounting for 10 points each. Now that COSPN are through to the Elite 16, there still is some fine tuning to do. We've been preparing for one year now. And every step to get to the Top 12 is very important. All the team members worked with a smile towards that goal,” said coach Julien Chaignot. We're going to show that Madagascar is a basketball country. Five years ago, we started to develop this club and I feel now is the time to show what we're capable of, he added. He insisted that the support of home fans was crucial in their opening campaign. “We know that we won’t be getting the same support, but we’re going there to do the job.” Coach Augustin Scholastique from Beau Vallon Heat reckons his side missed so many opportunities. It affected our offensive stats, and COSPN capitalized on it. We had a good team, but we still need to work on some points. We’ll keep trying our best for the next editions, he said. COSPN closed their first of the Road to BAL as Group E winners thanks to their 2-0 mark. Beau Vallon Heat Basketball Club finished second (1-1) while Ushindzi de Ouani came up third (0-2). Roche-Bois Warriors Sports Club pulled out of the qualifier a few days before the start of the competition. COSPN advanced to the East Division Elite 16 round, joining Cape Town Tigers (South Africa), City Oilers (Uganda), Ferroviario da Beira (Mozambique) and the NBA Academy Africa. The East Division Elite 16 line-up will be complete with the winners of Groups C and D.
