DAKAR, Senegal -- Angola's Petro de Luanda qualified for June's Basketball Africa League playoffs in Pretoria despite a 71-69 overtime defeat to Kriol Star on Sunday, which put the Cape Verdean side on the brink of joining them.
Kriol Star, in their debut BAL season, needed a win to stay in contention for the playoffs and played in the first quarter like a team determined to get it at all costs. It was an astonishing turnaround for a team that had been thrashed 103-74 by Petro only eight days prior.
Meanwhile, defending champs Petro will be breathing a huge sigh of relief at getting through, despite being wildly inconsistent over the past week and relying on other results to go in their favour.
Lewis Uvwo (14 points, 12 rebounds) and Ivan Almeida (14 points, 13 rebounds) both had double-doubles which were crucial in the victory for the Angolan side.
Joel Ntambwe, Almeida brothers Joel and Ivan, Uvwo and Anderson Correia were in top form as the hosts embarked on an 18-0 run after the first buzzer.
However, Petro are defending champions for a reason - they have proven time and time again that they can wiggle their way out of tight spots. By the end of the first quarter, they had reduced the deficit to 20-7.
However, Kriol Star were the better team in the second quarter once again as Nigerian NBA Academy talent Uvwo played out of his skin and the Cape Verdean players continued to do their country, with a population of just over 500,000, proud. At half-time, they led 40-19.
Petro - led by Rigoberto Mendoza and Patrick Gardner - did their best to chip away at the lead in the third quarter. However, after initially falling even further behind at 45-19, they could only get as far as reducing the deficit to 53-37.
The fourth quarter saw Petro get off to a strong start with two-point layups from Glofate Buiamba and Rigoberto Mendoza and then a three from Aboubacar Gakou. Kriol Star called a timeout in an attempt to recover their momentum, but another three followed - this one from Buiamba.
Kriol Star were short of answers. The absence of Patrick McGlynn and Richaud Pack began to show and they appeared to run out of energy in the fourth quarter. A three-point jump shot from Gakou put Petro 60-58 ahead with 1:39 left on the clock.
However, two free throws from Anderson Correia tied the scores again and then an Ivan Almeida free throw handed Kriol Star a 61-60 lead and then Joel Ntambwe made it 62-60 with 12.7 seconds to go as he landed a free throw of his own.
With 4.9 seconds left, Solo Diabaté hit a mid-range shot from near the corner to tie the game at 62-62. Kriol Star raced up the other end and Ntambwe went for a buzzer-beating three, but missed. The game went to overtime.
Petro led 69-67 before two free throws from Uvwo tied the game at 69-69 with 33 seconds left.
Ultimately, it came down to the final moment of the game and Uvwo was the hero again as the ball came off the rim and he managed to tip it in to give Kriol Star their third win.
Petro will be joined in the playoffs by Egypt's Al Ittihad and Nigeria's Rivers Hoopers, and five other teams. Two more playoff participants will be confirmed after Sunday's late tip-off between US Monastir and ASC Ville de Dakar (ASCVD).
If Monastir beat ASCVD, then the Tunisian side will progress to the playoffs along with Kriol Star. If ASCVD win, all four teams in the Sahara Conference will be tied on three wins and it will come down to points difference.
However, Petro are already assured of a playoff spot due to having a better points difference than Kriol Star, meaning that the lowest they can finish is third out of four teams. Given that Petro have a better record than the Kalahari Conference's third-placed team, FUS Rabat, they would qualify.
Even though the third-placed team in the Sahara Conference, whoever it is, will definitely have a better record than FUS, the Moroccan side can still qualify if they have a better record than whoever finishes third in the upcoming Nile Conference in Rwanda later this month.
The only way Kriol Star could be eliminated in the conference stage is on points difference in a four-way tie. They, Petro and Monastir all have three wins and ASCVD can join them on three if they beat the Tunisian side. Of the four, Petro currently have the best points difference at +31, while Monastir's is +25, ASCVD's -11 and Kriol Star's -45.
In the case of a two or three-way tie, teams will be separated on head-to-head records before points difference. However, a four-way tie would see points difference become the decisive factor.
Regardless of what happens, Kriol Star can hold their heads high, knowing that with the odds stacked against them, they did Cape Verde proud.
"We knew that it's a really important game for us and we needed to come with a group of fighters... we knew that we had to come with a group that was going to represent the values of the country," Kriol Star head coach Hugo Salgado said after the game.
"Even if we lost, I was going to be proud of this team."
The BAL airs on ESPN's channels in Africa (SuperSport 218 and 219, Starsat 248).