Petro de Luanda became the first Nile Conference team to qualify for the Basketball Africa League (BAL) playoffs after beating Guinea’s Seydou Legacy Athlétique Club (SLAC) 95-78 on Wednesday.
The 18-point difference was anything but easy for the Angolan champions who were forced to step up on several occasions of the game.
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SLAC entered the game needing to beat Petro to boost their chances of qualifying to the next round.
The Conakry-based club led Petro by five (13-8) early in the contest, but the likes of Souleyman Diabate, Carlos Morais and Ater Majok found ways of keeping SLAC at a close range.
After taking a two-point lead (22-20) at the end of the opening quarter, Petro hit five of their eight three-point attempts to increase their lead by 15 points at the break (56-41).
Emeka Nwabuzor gave Petro some hard time, hitting two of his two three-point attempts to finish with 10 points in the first half.
But the second half was a totally different event with Petro leading by as many as 25 points.
Five Petro players scored 11 points or more apiece, including Ater Majok, who came off the bench to contribute 15 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks.
The former African champions’ bench provided a much-needed help, outsourcing SLAC 44-22.
But what separated the two teams was Petro’s 11 three-points made, and their aggression in the paint, where they swatted four SLAC shots.
"They really killed us on the glass,” said SLAC guard Uchenna Iroegbu who finished with 11 points and 7 assists.
"They have a lot of big fellas that are tall; they can get a lot of rebounds. They dominated inside... I think that’s what separated us in the game.”
Dane Miller finished the first half with 9 points, but he went on to add 15 more to finish with a game-high 24 points.
Nwabuzor finished with 23 points, while Ismael Conde contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds in the losing cause.
"It’s tough coming off a back-to-back,” Iroegbu observed.
"Legs might get a little heavy, but I thought our guys fought. Going to the half down 15, it’s hard to battle back,” the Nigeria international stressed.
Asked to share his perspective of their fourth victory in as many games and hence qualifying to their third consecutive playoffs, Aboubacar Gakou said, "Each one of us did their job. Fortunately, we came up with a win.”
"We knew beforehand that SLAC never gave up. The opening quarter wasn’t exactly what (we) planned, but we regrouped and managed to execute our game plan.”
"We are qualified to the playoffs, but our goal is to win the conference,” Gakou pointed out.