Kennedy powers Beira over host DUC

The Mozambican champions stepped on the floor reminding everyone that they were on a mission and a 6-0 run to start the game reflected their intentions in a game that registered seven lead changes

DUC Head Coach Parfait Adjivon remained defiant after his team’s second defeat in as many games in the Sahara Conference on Tuesday at Dakar Arena.

“We have three big finals to play, and our objective of qualifying to the playoffs remains intact,” said Adjivon whose team dropped to 0-2 following a 98-92 loss to Ferroviário da Beira.

The Mozambican champions stepped on the floor reminding everyone that they were on a mission and a 6-0 run to start the game reflected their intentions in a game that registered seven lead changes.

But with home fans like the DUC’s, a team can’t give up easily and anything can happen. The enthusiastic fans didn’t stop to support their heroes for a second, and the team managed to turn things around and headed to the locker room with a 53-50 lead.

Somehow, Beira – inspired by Jermel Kennedy – readjusted after the break and they went to lead by as many as 79-68 at the end of the third quarter.

Kennedy powered Beira with a performance for the ages. He had an 8-for-13 shooting night to finish with a game-high 27 points and a team-high nine rebounds.

William Perry added 16 points, Ayade Munguambe contributed 15 points off the bench and Prince Orizu won the paint area battle to go with 12 points and five rebounds as Beira improved their Sahara Conference record to 1-1 ahead of the clash against AS Salé of Morocco.

Kennedy said: “It was a big win for us. We needed to bounce back. Losing is always bad. We didn’t like that. We’ve adjusted and got the win. We went to zone [defense]. It disrupted them and we went up 15 points.

“That’s the first thing at halftime. ‘Guys, relax, go there and enjoy. It’s always easy when you’re having fun.”  

As much as DUC tried to find answers to Beira’s questions, the Dakar-based team couldn’t find them, especially in the battle near the basket when Beira outrebounded DUC 45-33.

“In two games we were winning at halftime. I don’t’ really know what it is. I don’t know if it’s energy. We have to figure those third quarters out,” DUC’s Hameed Ali said in the postgame press conference.

Ali did a bit of everything to help DUC come up with a win, but his team-high 26 points and six assists proved fruitless.

“We are hungry. We are to going to watch film, fix our mistakes and learn from our mistakes. I don’t think any team in this league is unbeaten. We are not giving in. We are here to fight and the playoffs remains our main goal.”

Adjivon recalled that DUC “has no tactical problems. Not everything was bad. We just need to keep on improving,” he said.

Beira head coach Luis Hernandez said: “It was an important to win this game to boost the team’s morale. Nobody likes to start a competition with a loss. We lost to the [BAL] runners-up from last season, we played well, but we fell short.

“We are more confident and this is the position we wanted to be after the loss to Monastir.”

“In the first half we were very excited. We were chasing them, especially in the second quarter. That was not our style of play. My message to my players was that [we] needed to play our game, move the ball, create shot opportunities and it worked.”

BASKETBALL AFRICA LEAGUE’S SAHARA CONFERENCE GAMES – March 8 Game Recap:

• S.L.A.C vs. US Monastir 55-76
• Ferroviário da Beira vs. DUC 98-92

TODAY’S GAMES:

• 5:30 p.m. GMT – REG vs. S.L.A.C
• 9:00 p.m. GMT – Ferroviário da Beira vs. AS Salé

Each game will be followed by a postgame media availability on ZOOM with the dial-in details to be shared ahead of each game. For game schedule, standings and rosters, visit https://bal.nba.com/.