Zenith

  • Latest News

    Wednesday, April 13, 2022

    Basketball Africa League's Nile Conference Games - April 12 Games Recap (Cape Town Tigers Versus Zamalek)

    The 24-point might seem an easy victory, but it wasn’t as Zamalek head coach Will Voigt later admitted and the 12 lead changes attested 

    On the day that Zamalek became the first team to reach the 100-point mark in 2022 Basketball Africa League (BAL) (www.BAL.NBA.com) season, the reigning champions dismantled Cape Town Tigers 101-77 to stay perfect in the league.

    The 24-point might seem an easy victory, but it wasn’t as Zamalek head coach Will Voigt later admitted and the 12 lead changes attested.

    For most of the first half the Tigers asked Zamalek questions that they failed to respond.

    Cape Town even led 36-29 – their biggest lead in the game – and headed to the locker room with a 40-36 advantage.

    A Cape Town win over Zamalek seemed improbable at the beginning of the game, but it quickly turned into a possibility until starters Myck Kabongo and Pieter Prinsloo got into foul trouble late in the second quarter.

    With three fouls each before the break coach Relton Booysen had no alternative but take Kabongo and Prinsloo out of the game to protect them from an early exit.

    Zamalek opened the third quarter determined to turn things around, but Booysen’s team stayed put for the first five minutes in the third.

    However, a strong fourth quarter where they outscored Cape Town 34-21 was everything Zamalek needed to close the game out.

    “It didn’t feel like cruising,” Voigt insisted in the postgame press conference.

    “That’s a good Cape Town team, a much different team from the team that played against Petro. They missed their two best players in the first game. We were down at the half. That was a hard-fought win. Our guys did a really good job.”

    Edgar Sosa sparked Zamalek’s offense with 25 points, Ike Diogu, Anas Mahmoud – who recorded his second straight double-double -, Mikhael McKinney and Eslam Mohamed combined for 58 Zamalek points.

    It was Zamalek’s eighth straight BAL win ahead of the most anticipated game in the Nile Conference against Petro de Luanda on Friday, April 15.

    “I definitely don’t think we underestimated them,” Sosa said in the aftermath of the game.

    “We knew their talent and strength coming in to this game. In the first half, coach just told us we were lacking energy. We were playing their game, a slow-paced game. At halftime coach just old us that we need to step up a little bit, push the tempo because they were playing a short rotation, that’s what we did and it worked to our benefit.”


    Meanwhile, Cape Town dropped to 0-2 with three games remaining.

    In his BAL debut, Billy Preston led all players in scoring with 26 points, former NBA Jamel Artis, who also played his first BAL game, contributed 11 points, Evans Ganapamo came up with an inspiring performance of 14 points, but Zamalek proved more efficient in the end.

    “We failed to stick to our structure,” said Cape Town Tigers center Nkosinathi Sibanyoni, who contributed 6 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks off the bench.

    “We failed to listen to what our coaches needed us to do. If you can look at the first and second quarter we played very well. We were going head-to-head against the champs. It’s our only first time in the BAL. We are getting better enough.”

    Asked if foul trouble affected the team Sibanyoni replied: “I don’t think it has affected our game. It’s them putting their bodies on the line. It’s a good thing, but somehow it affected us because they are our starters and we rely on them as much as they rely on us.”

    • Blogger Comments
    • Facebook Comments

    0 comments:

    Item Reviewed: Basketball Africa League's Nile Conference Games - April 12 Games Recap (Cape Town Tigers Versus Zamalek) Rating: 5 Reviewed By: BrandIconImage
    Scroll to Top