The BK Arena was buzzing on Friday night as home side RSSB Tigers took on FUS Rabat in the Basketball African League (BAL) Playoff quarterfinals.
The Tigers, led by combo-guard Craig Randall, played to the gallery and in the process secured a 95-72 win over Rabat.
The 23-point victory nearly guarantees the RSSB Tigers a place in the playoff semifinals, as FUS Rabat has to win the second game of the quarterfinal series by at least 24 points, which is highly unlikely.
Home boy Ntore Habimana (13 points) pulled up from 3-point range, followed by an alley-oop dunk from Teafale Leonard Jr and the crowd was pulled in right away. Habimana connected from deep again, followed by a reverse layup and a trey from Leonard Jr, and the tone was set.
While Leonard’s troubling ankle problem limited him to just 8 minutes, RSSB Tigers found little resistance as they ran the transition well through skipper Antino Jackson Jr and Randall, who poured in 38 points as Rabat could barely cope with the high-octane offence.
Mwinuka’s Decision: Offence vs. Defence
The Tigers were not particularly solid defensively in the second and third quarters, as Rabat scored at will just as they did at the other end.
Henry Mwinuka, the man in charge of the RSSB Tigers and his coaching staff, had a decision to make: find a balance between transition and set half-court offence as well as tighten up on the defensive side of the ball.
The decision was to go a little bit old school in the fourth quarter with the front court of Mangok Mathiang, Oumar Ballo and Dieudonne Ndizeye, with Randall the constant in the back court as Habimana shared the point guard duties with Jackson Jr.
Mathiang and Ballo shut out the paint from Rabat, the length of Randall, Habimana and Ndizeye took out the passing lanes, and on the offensive side of the ball, the trio remained a threat on transition but also got the two big boys involved in the half-court.
Uchenna Iroegbu (14), Kuany Atem Kuany’s 12 points and Ilias Aqboub (12) scored in double figures for Rabat, who were without their stars from the regular season, Will Perry and Abdoulaye Harouna.
The two sides will face off again on Sunday, May 24, to complete their quarterfinal series. FUS Rabat needs at least a 24-point win to advance to the semifinals.
