Robinson Opong’s Clutch Three Lifts MBB to Historic First BAL Win Over Nairobi Thunder

Robinson Opong’s Clutch Three Lifts MBB to Historic First BAL Win Over Nairobi Thunder

Robinson Opong was the star of the show as he sunk a clutch three-pointer to hand South Africa's Made by Ball Basketball (MBB) their first Basketball Africa League (BAL) victory in the Nile Conference, subjecting Nairobi City Thunder to their third loss in as many matches. 

A dramatic second half saw Thunder take an 18-point lead in the opening five minutes and lead by ten into the final quarter. However, the match went down to the final 10.6 seconds, with possession going to MBB after Thunder gave up a chance to lead by four with a shot-clock violation.

Jovan Mooring dribbled past Thunder's defense, and despite being clear for a leveling basket, he took the risk of making the pass to Opong, who rose above his marker Evans Ganapamo to drown the three and, with it, hopes for Thunder's opening win.

"We had a good start but dug ourselves into a ditch, but we knew we needed a win and this was it as we target the playoffs. We dug in for this, having lost the first two matches. We had seen what we did wrong and worked on it ahead of this match,"  Prinsloo, who lead MBB with a massive double-double of 30 points and 11 rebounds, said. 

MBB went on an eight-point rally early to lead 13-5 off a Robinson Opong three with 6:36 to play. Halfway through the quarter, the South African-based club led 16-8. Thunder went on a six-point run of their own, 4, Yohane Tshaba Kabongo's two-point alley-oop dunk bringing the East Africans to within three points at 18-15. 

Neo Mothiba and Dyvonne Pfachi pulled Sam Vincent's charges seven points (22-17) with back-to-back layups, punishing Thunder, which had missed four scoring opportunities in the closing two minutes.

Coming into the second quarter, Teafale Lenard had the hot hand, taking MBB 26-17 ahead. His dunk halfway through the stanza made it an eight-point game. Tylor Ongwae led the Kenya-based team's comeback off the charity stripe, William Sidney Davis II's and Garang Diing bringing it back to a one-possession game at 28-26. 

Evans Ganapamo was brought on with 2:48 to play, shooting back-to-back from range to steal the lead from right under MBB's nose for 33-32 heading to the halftime break. 

The Central African international, Ganapamo, picked up where he left off in the third quarter, going 6-0. Ongwae added a basket to set Thunder off on a run that had them leading by 18 (51-35) halfway into the quarter, with Ganapamo scoring 14 in five minutes.

Teafale Lenard Jr. and Pieter Prinsloo, who was having the game of his career, were, however, having none of that. Two minutes down the line, they had dropped the advantage to single digits at 53-46. Eventually, they played for a 27-18 quarter for the match to head to the final stanza with Thunder holding a 10-point advantage (60-50). 

Five minutes into the final quarter, MBB capitalised on Thunder's lackluster ball handling, cutting their deficit to just two at 62-60, as Bradley Ibs' charges were unable to find a solution for Prinsloo and Lenard Jr. 

In the end, however, Opong delivered the final blow to his fellow East Africans, dropping a trey with three seconds on the clock for the crucial win. 

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[Photography Courtesy of The BAL]