City Oilers come up just short in their Basketball Africa League debut as they fall 89-71 to Clube Atlético Petroleos de Luanda in the 2023 BAL Nile conference games held at Dr Hassan Moustafa Sports Hall, Egypt.
CAIRO, April 27, Uganda’s representative had the unenviable task of facing Angola’s Petro de Luanda in their first-ever BAL game.
Uganda’s eight-time champions, City Oilers could not match one of the best to ever play in the league as the Angolans finished third in the inaugural season, second in last season, and now one of the title contenders.
José Alves dos Santos Neto, the Basketball Africa League’s Coach of the Year for 2022, elected to open the game with all five Angolans on the floor. With the likes of Ater Majok, Souleyman Diabate, and Damian Hollis on the sideline.
The 2022 league finalists got out to a fast start, scoring 10 points in the first 3’50” and holding the Ugandans to zero points, forcing Mandy Juruni to request a timeout to adjust his tactics.
The Oilers ended up trailing 21-14 in the first quarter but produced a better second-quarter performance, winning 25-21 to go into the half-time break trailing by just three points, 42-39.
Pedro de Luanda came out strong in the third and fourth quarters and took the 18-point lead to take the game. 24-20, 23-12 in the third and fourth quarters respectively to win the first game of the 2023 BAL Nile conference.
Damian Hollis came off the bench to record a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Petro was led by Aboubacar Gakou, who put in 16 points while also pulling down 6 rebounds. Carlos Morais, Childe Dundao, and Damian Hollis contributed 11 points apiece
On the side of Mandy Juruni’s City Oilers, the American duo of James Justice Junior and Falando Jones combined for 42 of 71 scored by the Ugandan champions. Titus Odeke added 10 points
The City Oilers shot 23-of-68 field goals compared to Petro’s 28-of-69 field goals. However, The Ugandan champions had 14 points from Petro’s turnovers while also recording 28 points from the paint.
Petro de Luanda had 7 points from Turnovers and 28 points from the paint. This means that Mandy Juruni’s City Oilers should work on their shooting accuracy.
Uganda’s flag bearers will have an opportunity to bounce back when they confront Al Ahly Sports Club while Petro de Luanda faces CF da Beira on Friday, April 29 at the same arena.
