KIBAHA (Tanzania) – The 2023 Basketball Africa League (BAL) Coach of the Year, Mamadou Gueyeled his troops, Urunani Basketball Club, to a 4-0 run in the Road to BAL East Division Group D qualifiers, finishing the phase undefeated to qualify for the Elite 16.
In their last match of the competition, which brought together five teams, at the Filbert Bayi school in Kibaha, the Burundi champions faced the Malagasy GNBC, who could do nothing against this team of stars, losing with a score of 112 to 56.
The 56-point gap is the largest margin of victory in this year’s Road to BAL.
The turning point of the match: With Mohamed Doumbya in full possession of his means, scoring 15 points in the first quarter, including 12 in the last half of the period, Urunani took his momentum and did not stop, taking a lead of 29 to 14.
A 31-12 second-half run that included five shots from behind the arc, including three from Marcus Christopher CrawfordDoumbya and Brian Thanks Kavakure adding one each, was the proverbial final nail in the coffin for GNBC, which found itself trailing by 34 points, more points than it had managed in two quarters, heading into the second half, where little has changed.
Hero of the match: Doumbya tied with Jean-Jacques BoissyBAL runner-up, with 25 points, both scoring four and five baskets from behind the arc, respectively. The latter added 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals to finish with an efficiency record of 31 points.
The numbers don’t lie: GNBC got off to a sluggish start in all of their matches, leading 20-15 in the first quarter in their 89-72 win over the hosts, JKT, then 22-14 in their 98-72 win over Beau Vallon Heat of the Seychelles.
In their 96-60 loss to Nairobi City Thunder, they trailed 29-12 in the first half and it was no surprise to see the trend continue against Urunani. However, Lova Raharidera’s players had their eyes bigger than their stomachs against the Burundians and were dominated on all fronts.
An 11 of -27 from beyond the arc in the first three quarters, finishing the game with 14 shots, took control away from GNBC (9 of 30) which prides itself on shooting from the outside.
Conclusion : The journey is over for the Islanders, but Gueye’s men still have one more hurdle to overcome in their quest to make their BAL debut.
GNBC long-range shooting specialist Elly Randriamampionona left the match due to knee discomfort.
They said:
“We had a goal and it was achieved, but the journey has only just begun. We will make our return to Elite 16 from 2022, where the competition will be tougher. We have a good group this time and I am convinced that we can fight for a place in the BAL We will continue to work in this direction”, Landry Meet me, captain d’Urunani.
“It wasn’t the performance we were hoping for, but we did our best against tough opposition. We will pull ourselves together and come back stronger,” Elly Randriamampionona, you GNBC.
FIBA
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