CAIRO — Carlos Morais’ 34 points and a late buzzer-beater from Lukeny Gonçalves saw Petro de Luanda clinch top spot in the Basketball Africa League Nile Conference with a 91-90 win over hosts Al Ahly in Cairo.
Ahly brought a mid-sized but vocal contingent of supporters, but they were counteracted by a surprisingly visible contingent of Petro de Luanda supporters who were most interested in supporting former Laker Ater Majok.
Majok, like many South Sudanese people, was a refugee in Egypt as a child. He later went on to live in Australia and then the US but is still proficient in Arabic and close to many people in Egypt.
Petro, who remain unbeaten in Cairo, were thus able to make the arena feel like home and take a 26-18 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Angolan champions started the second quarter on the front foot and extended their lead to 39-24, but Ahly went on a 12-point run to reduce the deficit to 39-36. By half-time, Petro led 50-44 with Morais leading from the front.
Ahly took a 56-54 lead early in the third quarter but Petro regained their advantage and ended it 71-69 up.
The teams traded blows in the fourth quarter like two heavyweight boxers putting their bodies on the line. Ultimately, it went down to the last split-second. Morais’ last-ditch shot came off the rim but Lukeny Gonçalves was there to collect the rebound and follow-up with a buzzer-beater to give Petro the win.
“The atmosphere was great, I think, for both teams, because tonight, I think Al Ahly fans really came out and we had some fans too… I’m happy to be here and to win the game,” said Morais in his post-match press conference.
City Oilers desperately needed a win to keep their playoff hopes alive in the late tip-off and got off to a strong start with Falando Jones and James Justice Jr. leading the charge. They led 23-16 at the end of the first quarter. By half-time, the Ugandan champions had extended their lead to 47-31.
Despite the best efforts of Najeal Young to lead the scoring for his side, Beira struggled to close the gap and found themselves 74-52 behind at the end of the third quarter.
The stands had largely emptied out by the time City Oilers secured their first win of the tournament, a 96-75 triumph.
The implications of this result are that with Petro and Ahly having secured first and second places respectively, the rest of the conference will be decided on the last day. If the Cape Town Tigers beat City Oilers, they will be in Kigali no matter what. If SLAC beat Al Ahly, the Guinean side will need a Tigers loss to progress.
“We’re looking to keep our foot on the gas right now. We’ve played Cape Town before and it went down to the wire,” said Jones in the Oilers’ post-match press conference.
“We’ve got a little bit more extra help this time, so hopefully we can keep guys open and continue moving the ball and we can knock our shots.”
The BAL airs on ESPN’s channels in Africa.
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