KIBAHA (Tanzania) – William Sydney Davis II “Will” combined with Uchenna Iroegbueach posting a double-double to propel Road to BAL debutants Nairobi City Thunder to their first victory (89-53) at the end of their meeting against Seychellois Beau Vallon Heat. It was the opening match of Group D of the Eastern Division, a group which brought together five teams. Will scored 26 points, adding 11 rebounds, while American-Nigerian guard Iroegbu put in an unusual performance by scoring 10 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. The start of the match was marked by an alternation between the two teams, with the islanders immediately taking a 7-2 lead. Derrick Ogechi gave them the advantage for the first time with a shot from behind the arc (10-7).
The players of Gregory Scholastica however, kept the score close despite the Thunder’s attempts to pull away, leading 20-16 at the end of the first quarter. The Thunder came back for the second period with a different face, leading 23-13 to take a 14-point lead at the break. “It was a tough game. The Thunder are a tough team to play against and I have to congratulate my players for fighting until the end. We got off to a good start, matched them in the first quarter -time, but we lost track with poor defense towards the end of the second quarter and we couldn’t recover from it. We need to work on a few points to win the second game,” said. Timmy Adamthe captain of Beau Vallon, at FIBA.basketball. His coach echoed his sentiments, stating that in addition to poor defense, they lost crucial points with missed easy baskets that, if converted, would have changed the outcome of the game. . “We have to correct these points before we start the next match,” explained coach Scholastique. The Thunder carried the momentum from the second quarter into the third and fourth periods, taking leads 19-11 and 27-18 for a convincing victory.
“We started slowly,” admits the captain Taylor Ongwae. “But it’s understandable because we hadn’t played for a week. Overall, we played hard and pulled together to get this win. I know we can improve. With more “A week without playing, we were obviously rusty and I think we will be in top form against Urunani.” The coach Bradley Ibs echoed his sentiments by attributing the first quarter performance to nerves. “It was a funny game. We missed a few easy layups, a few crucial passes, but I attribute that to the jitters of the first game, even though we played a few friendlies. We were also sloppy on defense and we didn’t “We weren’t very effective offensively. Those little things contributed to our poor start and helped them stay in the game longer than we would have liked,” Ibs said, adding that he was confident his team would. would be better in the second match, where they will face Burundian champions Urunani.
FIBA
