Road to BAL: East Division's Elite 16 underway in Johannesburg

The Road to BAL Elite 16 qualifiers Group F Division East got underway on Tuesday, November 22, at the Ellis Park Arena in Johannesburg, South Africa. On a day that saw four games played, Cape Town Tigers wrapped up the evening with a 85-60 victory over Group A opponents, the NBA Academy Africa. Five Tigers players finished the game with double figures, with Micheal Gbinije leading the way with 22 points. Central African Republic international Evans Ganapamo finished with 16 points, while Pieter Prinsloo dropped 14 points. Shooting guard Ganapamo opened the scoring with a lay-up which looped over his defender's out-stretched arm. The hosts looked in control of the game and three-pointers from team captain Prinsloo and Gbinije gave them a 10-1 lead six minutes into the game. The Academy team would pull back with a three-pointer from guard Aguinaldo Neto and Emmanuel Okarafor slam dunked the ball after receiving a long pass to pull back three points (10-7). With seconds remaining South Sudanese guard Deng capitalised on a mix-up from an inbound between the Academy players and raced to dunk. Tigers were 14-10 at the end of the opening quarter. They would pull away in the second quarter and had a 10-point lead (25-15). Deng landed three threes. Cape Town put in a dominant display with seconds remaining and closed out the quarter 42-29. The home side started the third quarter strong with Prinsloo, Gbinije and Putney landing threes to make it 51-32. With five minutes gone, Tigers were 66-41 up. The South African side would add five more points to finish the quarter 71-46. In the fourth quarter, the game was over as a contest as the Tigers coasted home to a 25-point victory. Beira see off Magic The penultimate game of the day saw Ferroviario Da Beira, who are usually a technically superior outfit, scrap their way past a plucky Matero Magic 63-57 in the last game of Group B. A game-high 23 points by point guard Will Perry and a double-double (17 points and 12 rebounds) by shooting guard Michael Murray saw the Mozambican club hold on for the six-point victory. Beira were in control of the game from the third minute of the first quarter (16-8) till the first minute of the fourth quarter (51-39), but from that point, Matero battled back. The Zambians disrupted the flowing game of Beira and it seemed to work, and with four minutes remaining, Matero were three points behind (50-53). With seconds remaining, Matero's captain Chonga Chona, who finished with 10 points, hit a crucial three-pointer to close the gap (60-57). But Perry landed a crucial jumper and a single free throw to secure the victory for Beira. Urunani demolish KPA In the second game of the day, power forward Landry Ndikumana's 18 points and 14 rebounds saw Urunani power past Kenya Ports Authority 72-43 in Group A's opening game. Ivory Coast centre Adjehi Baru also put in a dominant performance for Urunani. The big man contributed a double-double of his own (12 points and 12 rebounds, to see the Burundi club march away with the 29-point victory. COSPN force Oilers to step up In the day's first game City Oilers defeated COSPN 71-59. Germain Roebuck Jr's 18 points and Falando Jones' 15 points saw the Ugandan club start their Group B campaign on the right footing. Both teams struggled to get into gear, but the Oilers found their rhythm at the fifth-minute mark and broke away. A Jimmy Enabu three-pointer would see the Oilers take a 9-7 lead. The Uganda club twice went on a 10-point scoring run (17-7, 19-9) and finished the first quarter 22-11 up. Oilers point guard Germaine Roebuck Jr put on a solid attacking performance, scoring 15 points in the first half. The American was 4/5 from two-point range and 2/3 from behind the arc. Mandy Juruni's charges went into the second half with a 21-point lead (47-26.) COSPN staged a fightback in the third quarter by cutting the Oilers' lead to six points with seconds remaining. In the fourth, the Oilers looked like they would lose their first-half initiative as the Malagasy club came out fighting. Unfortunately for COSPN, it would not be enough as the Oilers battled to an 11-point victory.

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Road to BAL: East Division's Elite 16 underway in Johannesburg