Kriol Star’s first-ever international game on home soil was exciting for the neutrals but not the home fans.
The prime time tip-off on Tuesday night at Pavilhão Desportivo Vavá Duarte in Praia saw Malian champions Centre de Référence de Basketball de Tombouctou (CRBT) edge Kriol Star 94-92.
Senegalese shooting guard Bamba Diallo was hot from downtown, going 6-of-12 from 3-point range and finished with a game-high 23 points, to power Tombouctou to victory in the first upset of Division West.
Angolan center Teotonio Dò and Amadou Kaba came in handy for the Malian side with efficient 13 and 12 points, respectively.
CRBT controlled the opening quarter, which they edged 26-20, but Kriol responded in the second quarter, winning it 28-23 to go into the halftime break trailing by just a point (48-49).
Early in the third quarter, Kriol edged ahead 55-54 but CRBT went on a 17-0 run to lead 71-55 with just under four minutes to play in the quarter. However, Kriol chipped away at the deficit to just 5 points (72-75) heading into the final quarter.
Despite falling behind by 8 points on multiple occasions, Michael Babatunde Balogun, who finished with a team-high 20 points, kept Kriol afloat with huge baskets and good foul shooting. Ivan Almedia tied the game at 90 with just over a minute to play but turned over the ball and fouled to send Samba Dali Fall to the line with under a minute to play and he hit one shot.
At the other end, Ivan Almeida found Joel Ntambwe under the basket to put the home side ahead with about 30 seconds to play. However, Teotonio Dò drained the game-winning trey for CRBT with 5 seconds to play.
Other Games
In the other games played on the opening day, Al Ahly Benghazi continued their impressive Road to BAL campaign with an impressive 85–68 win over Moanda BB in the only group B game played after the Central African Republic side New Tech Universite pulled out of the competition.
ASB New Generation were no match for Jeunesse Club d’Abidjan of Côte d’Ivoire, falling 70-50 in the other Group A clash.