Basketballghana.com can report debutants in the Basketball Africa League (BAL) have missed out on grabbing wins in the opening round of games in the Nile Conference of the continental tournament.
DR Congo team Espoir Fukash and South African side Cape Town Tigers are competing in the NBA-FIBA Africa competition for the first time but had losing debut games.
Espoir Fukash lost 60-77 to FAP from Cameroon while Cape Town lost 61-90 to Petro de Luanda; the Nile Conference Games are taking place in Cairo, Egypt. (Click highlighted text to watch game highlights)
Shooting Guard Joel Almeida led FAP with 23 points and four steals in 25:55 minutes; aside Almeida, Deshaun Morman was the only FAP player to score in double figures (13).
Veteran Guard Carlos Morais was the Most Valuable Player Award winner in Luanda’s 29 point win over Cape Town Tigers. The former Toronto Raptors registered 23 points, four rebounds and three assists in the game. (Click highlighted text to watch game highlights)
Ghana’s basketball portal can confirm Cape Town had two players (Jamel Artis and Billy Preston) miss the game against Luanda due to COVID 19 protocols.
Defending BAL Champions Zamalek commenced its title defence with an 80-63 win over South Sudan’s Cobra Sport. Zamalek on Tuesday, April 12 plays Cape Town; Nile Conference games end on April 19.
By Yaw Adjei-Mintah
@YawMintYM on Twitter
