Angola takes down Libya in a convincing AfroBasket win at home

The Tip-off was delayed by 15 minutes due to technical issues but that did not deter the two sides as they got off to an electric start.

Dundao had his hands everywhere and it showed when he got the steal to assist Bango who stuffed it with authority to open the scoring. Shortly after this, the game was interrupted and this time due to technical difficulties.

The game was delayed for over an hour but the players came back sharp and looked like they did not miss a step. The interruptions were proceeded by highlights that erupted the arena. Bruno Fernando had an emphatic chase-down block that led to a fastbreak alley-oop dunk for Joseph Bango. As if this was not enough, Bango followed this up with a valiant defensive effort to get another block and close the lid on Libya.

There was yet another interruption as Badrush sustained a head injury that required strapping to contain the bleeding. Despite Libya’s carelessness and incessant turnovers, Angola failed to capitalize on it. Libya followed this up with back-to-back 3-point shots from Badrush and Almaghribi, respectively, to tie the game. Badrush gave Libya their only lead of the game but that was short-lived as Fernando slammed it down with the left hand to regain the lead. The quarter was sealed when Dundao stole the ball and scored a transition 3-point shot. Angola took a 20-13 lead at the end of the quarter.

Aboubacar Gakou opened the quarter with a long, contested mid-range jump shot. After a scramble, De Souza cleaned up and miraculously managed to find space to dunk it with 2 hands. Angola upped the ante on defense as they got more steals and more dunks to further ignite the crowd. Madi managed to sink a 3 to reduce their deficit to 6 but Kokila caught fire as he sank back-to-back 3-point shots to give Angola a good cushion.

Dundao continued to show off his impressive speed as he would find his way to the rack before the Libyan defense could react. De Souza closed off the half in fashionable style when he cautiously pivoted on the baseline to lose his defender, opening up the path for him to dunk it with 2 hands. Angola remained in the driver seat with the score at 38-24 at the half.

Angola went up a gear in this quarter as they put on a defensive masterclass with countless blocks and steals when they were not forcing Libya into unforced turnovers. It was the Childe Dundao show as the point guard was not just a nuisance on defense but put on a spectacle on offense with a rainbow 3 followed by an and-1play. It was Valente’s 3 that forced Libyan head coach Sam Vincent to call a timeout as his team was now down 22 points.

That did not stop Valente in his tracks as he came back with a poster dunk to send the crowd into a frenzy. Badrush who had a stellar offensive game could not lift this team alone, the BAL champion went on a solo effort to score Libya’s first points of the quarter. Angola took it back to basics when they began to run the pick and roll to perfection between Goncalves and the forwards. This got Kokila and Francisco wide open for dunks.

Libya looked lackluster and Angola took advantage of that as they continued to pick them apart. The quarter ended with the score at 59-37 in favor of Angola.

Angola used their size to their advantage as they continued to dominate in the paint with Fenandes getting an and-1. Libya showed some life when they made some stops and buckets by Hamad and Badrush. This was short-lived as Goncalves had a beautiful pump fake lay-up followed by a steal and fast break dunk to make it a 27-point game. Angola pressed the pedal to the floor as they continued playing smothering defense and got easy lay-ups. A 3-point shot from Aboubacar Gakou took Angola up 32 with the score at 73-41.

At this point, the fans were doing the Mexican wave as they were convinced that the hosts had won this game. They even used their flashlights to add some extra effects to the inevitable win. Despite being up 30 points, Angola went with their starting 5 for the final 3 minutes. Bruno Fernando managed to score a step-back 3 to send the crowd into a frenzy before honoring the late Dikembe Mutombo with a wave of the finger after his chase-down block to end the game. The game concluded with an 85-53 victory at home for Angola.

Gerson Goncalves remained humble and said:

We had a good game today and we hope that the other games can be better […] the delay was tough for us because we warmed up a lot and to come back into the game it was tough but we controlled the game.

Badrush’s 15 points were not enough to catapult Libya to a win. Angola will take on South Sudan in their next game, while Libya will face Guinea. Angola wants a repeat of the 2011 experience, the last time they hosted the men’s FIBA AfroBasket and also the last time they won it. They will be very aware that it is an even more difficult feat this time as all teams have gotten significantly better.

‍

[Photography Courtesy of FIBA]