Ghana Fire Service put out Tudu Magic’s winning flame in the Accra Basketball League (ABL) Men’s Division I by recording a 53-45 win over Magic.
Magic was attempting to win a third game in a row but a clutch performance from Fire thwarted Tudu’s effort. Fire maintains its third place in the league standings.
Shadrach Quaye got the game’s first points from three point range and Ibrahim Mohammed and Steve Foster scored for Magic’s 7-6 lead with 4:43 seconds remaining. Dennis Dugbennu scored two three point shots.
Fire completed the comeback to lead 16-9 after the first quarter with Dugbennu scoring 10. Fire’s frontcourt duo of Bashiru Abdul and Emmanuel Ocquaye tipped in rebounds.
Fire dominated the boards and scored off second chance opportunities. Jibril Mohammed drove to the basket and scored a left handed layup but Magic’s Abdul Razak twice scored inside the paint. Ibrahim Mohammed buried two three point shots as Magic ended the first half trailing 22-26.
Ocquaye opened the third quarter with a trio of layups. Razak pump faked twice before scoring a simple layup. Magic’s veteran Forward Richard Borsah stole the ball and delivered and up and down layup for his side. Tudu trailed 31-36 with 4:35 left to play. Magic ended the quarter on a strong note scoring four points to trail 35-36.
Dugbennu stole the ball off Foster and scored a fast break layup and Philip Amralo another fast break layup. David Okoe drained a long jumper to stretch Fire’s lead to 42-35. Borsah converted a three pointer to end Fire’s run.
Mohammed stole that ball off Amralo and scored to cut into Fire’s lead but Okoe drained a three point on the immediate possession in response. Fire led 49-45 with 47 seconds remaining but Fire got points from Ocquaye and Jibril Mohammed to clinch the win for Fire.
By Yaw Adjei-Mintah
@YawMintYM on Twitter
