Tigers resurrect BAL campaign after win over Petro

After two straight defeats in the Basketball Africa League, Cape Town Tigers head coach Flosh Ngwenta had called for the side to put in effort and be mentally strong and that is exactly what they did in their 84-78 victory over Petro de Luanda at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria on Saturday. 

US Import Billy Preston scored 20 points and picked up 11 rebounds to help steer the Tigers to their first win in the Kalahari Conference. 

Samkelo Cele, Dylan Whitbread, and Cartier Diarra chipped in with double figures. 

Nkosinathi Sibanyoni got the home crowd hyped-up with the dunk in transition for the Tigers from the tip off to open the home side account.

It looked promising for the home side in the first five minutes.

They were rejuvenated in attack with Samkelo Cele, Dylan Whitbread, Cartier Diarra, Nkosinathi Sibanyoni and Billy Preston at the forefront.

But the men from Angola had an answer every time the Tigers roared. The sides exchanged the lead three times and were tied on four occasions.

Lebohang Mofekeng left the court with an ankle injury but that did not deter the Tigers from moving into a 23-21 lead. Renowned for being slow starters in the Conference, it was the first time in the tournament that the Tigers won a first-quarter battle.

The basketball gods kept smiling on the Tigers' fortunes as they took a seven-point lead five minutes into the second stanza.

The Tigers shot 43,2% field goals and 66,7% from the free throw line.

Cheered on by Springbok World Cup winners Kurt-Lee Arendse, Canan Moodie and Tendai Mtawarira from courtside and “defence” and “offence” chants from the sold-out crowd, the Tigers shifted through the gears.

For the first in the week, Tigers head coach Flosh Ngwenya allowed himself a smile as his side went into halftime at 47-41.

The sides continued exchanging blows in the third quarter, but the Tigers were again superior in the paint.

They added 17 points to their score heading into the last quarter.

“Let’s go Tigers” shouts continued to ring from the animated crowd and in response the team turned it on and put on a show. 

The writing was on the wall for the men from Angola in the last five minutes as the Tigers clinched a six-point win. 

Yanick Moreira top scored for Petro de Luanda whose destiny of reaching the playoffs hangs in the balance and depends on FUS Rabat beating Cape Town Tigers on Sunday (7pm).

The Tigers will have to blow away Rabat by a big score if they are to finish second in the conference and automatically go through.