AfroBasket 2017 Day One Full Report
- Sep 9, 2017
- 2 min read
Plenty of action was the order of the day as AfroBasket 2017 tipped off in both Tunisia and Senegal.
Both Democratic Republic of Congo and Mali were good on the fast break and their forwards did not hold back going to the rim. Mali’s superior team play gave them the lead for much of the game, but a late surge from DRC sent the game into a heated overtime period. Despite some good defence from DRC, Mali did well to hold on to the ball and round out the game 87 to 82.
On-target three-point shooting from Egypt easily saw them dominate Mozambique and their lacklustre play. They ran away with their opening game of the tournament, defeating Mozambique 75-47.
The Group C opener was a close game up to the fourth quarter, when Rwanda’s superb long-distance shooting proved no match for Guinea’s otherwise fine defence. Guinea's Cedric Mansare was the stand-out performer, scoring 18 and grabbing 8 rebounds, in their 20-point loss to Rwanda.
Equally impressive Central African Republic and Morocco exchanged shots throughout much of their encounter. CAF were the most determined and their players pulled off the best moves, but Morocco’s superior three-point shooting ability and inside strength gave them the edge going into the home stretch. With a 10-point victory, Morocco get off to a winning start.
Tunisia’s ingenuity saw them regularly wrong-foot Cameroon’s lacking defence. Makram Ben Romdhane had a double-double for Tunisia with 14 points and 13 rebounds as Tunisia convincingly took the game 68-51.
Senegal overwhelmed South Africa with their supreme inside play, and on defence their ability to both steal the ball and block shots sealed their domination in their opening game, defeating South Africa by 39 points.
Ike Diogu had 31 points for Nigeria, but despite that they couldn’t stick their fork into Cote d’Ivoire. Some surprise plays from the Ivorians and the big physicality of forward Eric Tape saw them close the gap between themselves and the defending champions. Enan made it a three-point game in Cote d’Ivoire’s favour with a minute to go, but a four-point run from Akakume swung the favour back to Nigeria. They had a precarious lead, but with two missed jump shots Cote d’Ivoire failed to win the opening game by the smallest margin, while Nigeria begin their title defence the best possible way.
In the first half, Uganda looked in control and Angola seemed floundering - not what anyone had expected from this game. Led by Robinson Opong, Uganda were big on the fast break and from beyond the arc, while Angola's 14 threes saw them continually narrow the gap. Uganda looked to seal it as the game moved on to its conclusion, but Cipriano tied the game in the final minute, and overtime was needed. Angola dominated the extra period, bringing a terrific effort from Uganda to a disappointing end.
Keep up to date with AfroBasket 2017 on the tournament's official website.
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