Primeiro retain African title, APR finish 8th

APR ended their Fiba-Africa Champions Cup campaign in ranked eighth after a slim 64-65 defeat at the hands of Union Bank of Nigeria. It was a tough encounter for both teams. Union Bank won the first and third quarters (18-11), (18-12). APR tried to bridge the gap with 2nd and 4th quarter leads of 17-12 and 26-17 but still finished a basket short. The final standings mean that APR dropped one slot, having finished 7th last year in Angola when they made their debut appearance in Africa’s most coveted club competition. Union Bank also dropped three slots from their 4th slot finish in Abidjan, Ivory Coast three years ago. Meanwhile, defending champions Primeiro de Agosto retained their title after beating Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia 57 – 54 in a grand finale. Primeiro won the first quarter (15 – 11) but both teams ended the second 10 – 10 to finish 25-21 at the break. Primeiro won the third quarter (17 – 14) and despite Etoile du Sahel winning the final quarter (19 – 15), the Angolans were already champions. The tournament’s MVP Joaquim Gomez recorded 14 points and 6 rebounds to gift the Angolan side their fourth African title. Khanfir Maher collected 15 points for the Tunisian side who were only making their maiden appearance in the final. Enroute the final, Etoile du Sahel made sure that it was not an all-Angolan club final when they dismissed ASA 78-53. In the third place play-off, ASA (Angola) settled for a consolation 60 – 55 win over Stade Nabeulien of Tunisia. Kano Pillars (Nigeria) finished in fifth position after their 76-71 win over El Shabab (Libya). Ends

Lifestyle

Primeiro retain African title, APR finish 8th