Cape Verde’s Kriol Star shocked Petro de Luanda 71–69 in overtime, sealing the win with Lewis Uvwo’s buzzer-beating layup. The Sahara Conference debutants now stand 3–3 and have announced themselves as true BAL playoff contenders.
Last Updated on
May 4, 2025
Dakar Arena held its breath. The clock was ticking down. The scoreboard read 69-69. Then, in the chaos of final possessions, with the pressure boiling and legs growing heavier, Lewis Igho Uvwo rose above the noise—and nailed the game-winner at the buzzer.
Cape Verde’s Kriol Star, the unlikely islanders who had entered the Sahara Conference as wide-eyed debutants, had just done the unthinkable. They defeated defending champions Petro de Luanda in a 71-69 overtime stunner, their third win in six games, a 3-3 record that now screams legitimacy in a league where underdogs are rarely welcomed to the big table.
“It was a very important game for us,” head coach Hugo Salgado told themedia after the game, sweat still gleaming on his forehead, though his smilevsaid it all. “We needed players who represented the country’s values — guys whowould leave everything on the floor.”
And leave it all they did. They were handed one week earlier because they had to avenge that 29-point defeat. From the tip-off, it was clear that something special was brewing. The Cape Verdeans blitzed Petro with an 18-0 opening run, a defensive masterclass paired with the fearless, precise offence. By the end of the first quarter, they led 20-7. By halftime, they’d extended that lead to a jaw-dropping 21 points.
But champions never go quietly. Petro de Luanda, wounded and staggered, clawed their way back into the contest inch by inch. Solo Diabaté, cool as ever, drained a shot in the final seconds of regulation to force overtime at 62-all. The momentum had shifted. Kriol Star, who had once held a 21-point cushion, now found themselves neck and neck with a team known for closing with ruthless precision.
It was a test of nerve, and Kriol Star didn’t blink.
“We fought, we were resilient, we kept our composure,” said team captain and co-founder Joel Almeida, his voice still shaking with adrenaline. “The coach could’ve come with any plan, but if we didn’t keep fighting, none of it would’ve mattered.”
In overtime, the teams traded blows like heavyweights. Gardner momentarily gave Petro hope with a clutch bucket to make it 69-67, but Uvwo, who had already posted a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, calmly knocked down a free throw to pull within one. Then, the moment of destiny. With the final seconds draining, Uvwo seized a loose ball under the rim and laid it in as the buzzer sounded — a finish as miraculous as it was deserved.
Pandemonium erupted on the Kriol bench. Tears flowed. Arms liftedskyward. This wasn’t just a win. It was a statement.
“This game was bigger than basketball,” Salgado said. “I told theplayers to go at it like it was a playoff game !”
Statistically, the islanders had more than earned their glory. Ivan Almeida matched Uvwo’s impact with his own double-double—14 points, 13 rebounds—while Anderson Correia (16 pts, five rebounds, five assists) controlled the tempo with the poise of a veteran floor general. Joel Almeida added 13 points and nine boards of his own, and Joel Ntambwe chipped in with 10. For Petro de Luanda, the loss was a bitter pill.
Glofate Buiamba scored 16 points, while Aboubakar Gakou and Patrick Gardner each added 15. Mendoza rounded out the effort with 11, but none was enough to quiet the storm from the archipelago. By the end, the message was clear: There are no more small teams in the Basketball Africa League. Anyone can fall. Even giants. And Kriol Star? They’re no longer just a feel-good story. They’re contenders.
From that 18-0 blitz in the opening quarter to the euphoric final possession, this game will echo through Cape Verdean sports history. For a team born from a dream — assembled by a handful of believers and captained by its very founder—this was vindication, validation, and victory. As the Kriol Star players embraced at center court, one thing was certain: this wasn’t the end of a fairytale. It’s the start of something real.
[Photography Courtesy of The BAL and Press Afrik]
