KIGALI, Rwanda -- Petro de Luanda marched on to the semi-finals of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) on Sunday with an 88-84 win over Liz Mills' ABC Fighters, who lived up to their name in a titanic tussle with the tournament favourites.
The first quarter was a topsy-turvy battle. Petro punched, ABC counter-punched and Petro struck back. However, the Angolan champions ultimately finished the quarter with a 23-16 lead.
Carlos Morais led the way as per usual as Petro maintained control early in the second quarter. However, Ousmane Dramé had a major impact in swinging the momentum the other way.
With 2.1 seconds to go at the end of the half, Omar Abada won a foul off Damian Hollis as he made a shot. To add insult to injury, José Neto had a technical foul called against him. Then, two successful free throws from Abada took the score to 41-41 heading into half-time.
The second half started as the first finished. Abada sank a free throw and Harouna a three to put ABC in control.
Petro hit straight back and Morais levelled the scores with a three of his own. Coach José Neto cut a frustrated figure on the touchline, however, as ABC matched everything Petro threw at them.
The Nile Conference winners only took the lead back deep into the third quarter as Childe Dundão sank a crucial three to put Petro 56-55 up. That lead lasted only seconds as Tylor Ongwae hit back with a two and the back-and-forth began again.
Three missed free throws from Petro in quick succession allowed ABC to get on the front foot again but the Angolan champions always found a way to keep the contest alive. A three at one end and a successful defensive rebound at the other from Damian Hollis put Petro 64-63 up at the end of the quarter.
ABC started the fourth quarter brightest, but Petro held on for dear life and another vital three from Dundão, followed up by another two from the same player, gave them a 75-73 lead.
Momentum was back in Petro's favour and Ater Majok's block at one end allowed Carlos Morais to race away at the other. His effort came off the rim, but Damian Hollis was on hand to collect the rebound and finish the job.
With Petro four points up, it was time for one last roll of the dice from Mills - a timeout to inspire her troops. Majok's dunk afterwards made the job even tougher and he was straight back down the other end to collect a defensive rebound.
After Abada delivered from the free throw line, Mike Fofana's three put Fighters within touching distance again, but Petro responded at the other end again and then Majok made successive timely blocks on shots from Abada and Fofana.
Fofana eventually hit a shot again to reduce the deficit to 81-80, setting the teams up for a nail-biting last two minutes. Abada sank two to give ABC Fighters the lead again.
Neto, who at this point might have been having flashback's of Angola's 74-73 defeat to Kenya when he was stunned by Mills in a game which shaped her career (though he denied in his post-match press conference that he was thinking of this), sought to give his players a much-needed boost with a timeout.
Morais took charge again with a captain's effort - a vital three pointer - but Abada hit back with two at the other end.
Jone Pedro's dunk put Petro back ahead with 26.3 seconds left, prompting another timeout.
With 7.6 seconds left, a controversial foul was called against Jone Petro as he looked to make a block, prompting boos from the crowd, which turned to cheers when Moussa Koné missed his two free throws.
Pedro himself landed two at the other end to give Petro the scrappiest of wins.
Solo Diabaté praised Majok's impact in the big moments even on what was not his best night, saying: "Majok was the missing piece of Petro. Since we started the season, I was telling him: 'If you come here, I know we're going to win the title in the BAL. Everybody can see his impact on the team.
"Even off the court, he is pushing everybody, so we're really glad to have him here. Tonight, we didn't have the great Majok, but he still made some great plays. Next game, I believe it's going to be different."
Mills said in her post-match press conference: "To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if this is the best game of the playoffs. What's unfortunate is that this is a quarter-final game; it's not a final. I think the fans deserve that game as a final."
Douanes breeze past Beira to book BAL semi-final spot
Senegal's AS Douanes marched on to the semi-finals of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) with a comfortable 93-73 win over Mozambique's Ferroviário da Beira on Sunday in Kigali.
The first quarter was tightly contested, with Douanes taking a 28-23 lead.
Chris Crawford, Jean-Jacques Boissy and Samba Dali Fall led the charge for the Senegalese side throughout the first half and their control of the game became more evident in the second quarter.
By half-time, Douanes led 52-37 despite the best efforts of Will Perry, who in typical fashion sought to inject energy into the Mozambican side.
Ismael Nurmamade also did his part to prevent Douanes from running riot, but Beira continued to fall short in their efforts to contain Dali Fall and ended the third quarter 71-52 down.
In fairness to Beira, they never stopped fighting, but they simply could not claw their way back into the game. Douanes managed the game in the fourth quarter and got 12 players on the scoresheet in a comfortable victory.
At the time of the final whistle, it was not yet known whether they would play Angola's Petro de Luanda, who are the tournament favourites, or Ivory Coast's ABC Fighters in the semi-finals. Later, Petro booked their semi-final spot too.
Former University or Memphis sixth man Crawford is confident that Douanes have the right blend of youth and experience for the playoffs, as evidenced by their performance against Beira.
"I believe in all of us. We've got a young group, but we're experienced at the same time - just me bringing a different energy and us just being ready. Coach did a great job having us prepared for this moment, but we did a great job as a team," he said in the mixed zone.
"Basketball is a game of runs, so having someone that's experienced, I feel like we can be calm and poised in those types of situations, it goes a long way for a young group that's hungry like we are."
Beira's Najeal Young said: "We fought; we had some moments in there, but we just couldn't pull it off... They were hitting shots, making the right plays, getting in the paint, [getting] offensive rebounds, offensive putbacks. They just had a little bit more pop today than we did."
The BAL airs on ESPN's channels in Africa.