- City Oilers 64-102 ES Rades
2017 FIBA Africa Champions Cup hosts Etoile Sportive Radès were in destruction mode on the opening night as they blew out Zone V representatives City Oilers 102-64 at Salle Multidisciplinaire de Radès.
Oilers competed in the first quarter with shooting guard Robinson Odoch draining a 3 pointer on the first possession.
Stanley Ocitti hit a deep two give the four-time Ugandan league champions a 9-8 lead with 7:12 but a pair of throws from Omar Abada put the hosts back in the lead and never trailed again.
Oilers played catch up the rest of the quarter and came within a point (19-20) on Jordin Mayes’ jumper and (21-22) on Adarius Pegues free throws but inevitably never caught up as Mohamed Hadidane’s trey gave Radès a 26-21 lead at the end of the 10 minutes.
Hadidane’s lay-up at the start of the second quarter sparked a 14-0 run for Radès as Oilers could not find the basket for well over six minutes until Ocitti hit a three-pointer from the top of the arc.
The run did not only put Radès out of reach but also Oilers in line for a blow out as the closest they came was 12 points.
Oilers defense in the third quarter was in sixes and sevens, and Radès punished every defensive mistake especially on switches and the blind side.
Ocitti scored 14 points to lead Oilers scores. Mayes and Adarius Pegues chipped in with 12 points apiece while Jimmy Enabu dropped 5 dimes.
Mohamed Abbassi led the Tunisian assault with 18 points and 10 rebounds, Hadidane had 16 points while Mourad El Mabrouk and Dustin Salisbery contributed 14 and 11 points respectively.
Next Games
City Oilers will look to bounce back when they return to the floor on Tuesday afternoon against AS Sale who defeated Kano Pillars while Rades will play New Generation who fell to Inter Clube in the evening.
