Adenta Leopards have recorded its first victory in the 2019 Accra Basketball League (ABL) Men’s Division I via a 73-57 win over Reformers of Prisons.
The matchup was played earlier today at the Prisons Court in Cantonments, Accra following the Men’s Division II matchup between Kaneshie Swanlakers and Novas Nation.
Swanlakers beat Novas 72-49 in its first appearance of the season while condemning Novas to its first loss of the 2019 campaign. Novas has a win and loss in two games this season.
Despite trailing 19-26 at the end of the first half, Leopards rallied in the second half to clinch the win after losing narrowly to Braves of Customs in its previous game.
Nii Aryee Mensah of Reformers drilled a three point shot to extend his team’s lead early inside the third quarter.
Leopards went on a six point run with Muhaimin Guba scoring two jump shots and Kwame Opoku adding a layup to trail 31-33. Philip Barley crossed over his man and dished out a neat pass to find Mensah for a layup.
Aziz Mohammed completed a three point play and Leopards responded with two free throws from Guba and a layup inside the paint from Nana Bissue Yankah. A couple of three pointers including one from Opoku had Leopards trail 42-45 at the end of the third quarter.
Adenta took a 46-45 lead after scoring off consecutive turnovers from Reformers. Prisons got points later in the quarter from the free throw line to tie the game at 48 with 6:11 minutes left to play. Thomas Amedeku scored a long jumper and Opoku completed a three point play to give Leopards a 53-48 lead. Amedeku’s corner three pointer then stretched Leopards lead to ten (58-48).
The teams traded baskets but Leopards held the game’s lead (53-62) with 1:43 remaining. Guba scored six straight points and Reformers got points from Mensah, Mohammed and Barley late in the game.
By Yaw Adjei-Mintah
@YawMintYM on Twitter
