Desportivo retain title, APR finish 7th

Desportivo basketball club of Maputo, Mozambique successfully defended their Fiba-Africa women’s club championship title when they defeated favorites Primero de Agosto of Angola 70-63 in a thrilling final at the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi on Saturday. After a close contest in the opening minutes of the first quarter, Desportivo took the quarter 18 – 10 but the Angolans quickly cut down the margin with a 16 – 11 win in the second quarter as the scores stood at 29-26 at the break. In the third quarter, Desportivo portrayed true champion instincts when they outscored the Angolans 26-17 to build a huge, unassailable lead. Primero bounced back with a 20-15 fourth quarter win but it was not enough to help them win. Desportivo in particular had Jones Yolanda to thank after powering the club through with a game high 27 points. Nassicella Milcenete, arguably Primero’s top player on the night scored 19 points. The result firmly disproved any critics who had allegedly claimed that home advantage had played a big part for the Mozambicans last year. Desportivo coach Nasir Saleh said: “We won it at home last year and we’ve retained it away, this shows we’re a great team.” In classification games, First Bank from Nigeria finished third after beating ABC from Ivory Coast 64-53 in the third and fourth playoffs. Rwanda’s representatives, APR made sure they finished their campaign on a high by thumping Kenya’s KPA 67-50. It was sweet revenge for the first timers who painfully lost to the hosts 43-44 at the group stage. After the game, APR’s assistant coach Charles Mbazumutima told Fiba-Africa that he was happy at the achievement. “We are happy to come here and end up in seventh position in only our first tournament. It gives us hope that we can do better in future,” he said. CSA of Ivory Coast wound up in fifth position after shocking Djoliba 59-57 in a closely fought game. Desportivo are the first team to retain the trophy since 2003 and Kenya the first hosts to fail to win in the same period. Fiba-Africa Women Club Championships Rank Teams 1. Desportivo (MOZ) 2. Primero (ANG)3. First Bank (NGR)4. ABC (CIV)5. CSA (MLI)6. Djoliba (MLI)7. APR (RWA)8. KPA (KEN)9. Radi (DRC)10. Eagle Wings (KEN)11. Victoria (DRC)12. KCC (UGA) Ends

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Desportivo retain title, APR finish 7th