Espoir basketball club has blamed inadequate preparations for their poor showing in the FIBA Afrique Clubs Champions Cup which ended recently in Guinea Equatorial.The team, which was making their debut in African competitions, failed to win a single game, finishing last-on 12th position.Coach Jean Bahufite said, “Competing in such a big tournament needs good preparation at all levels from physical, mental to financial aspects.”“All the teams that took part in the tournament had enough time and resources for proper preparations, unlike us who trained for about three weeks with unfavourable conditions.”“In the future, we need to have better preparations which can help us to compete at the top level,” said the former Espoir player.“We didn’t perform as expected but we are happy with the experience gained from the competition which will be vital for our future assignments,” he added.Primeiro D’Agosto strengthened its African hegemony after beating Angolan archrivals Petro de Luanda 80-69 in the final to win the African Champions Cup.This is D’Agosto’s eighth ACC title in a decade.Petro de Luanda were unable to keep their undefeated run (7-0) in the tournament, as the 2006 ACC winners showed limited scoring options to finish second, while Egypt’s Al Ahly finished third.
