Petro “did enough” to qualify for the playoffs: Jose Neto

Taking to the court less than 24 hours after an exhausting game against Zamalek on Friday night was the least of concerns for Petro de Luanda who are just happy to have qualified for the Basketball Africa League (BAL) playoffs next month in Kigali.

The Angolan champions never showed signs of fatigue or discomfort to outclass FAP 73-60 and improve their Nile Conference to 3-1.

“We are built for moments like this,” said Petro de Luanda center Yanick Moreira who finished with 8 points, 8 rebounds and 2 block shots.

Cyrille Keumoe opened the score line with a midrange jumper 16 seconds into the game, but that was the longest FAP led the game as Abou Gakou and Moreira combined for four points to put Petro de Luanda in control of the game.

Although the game was tied three times, Petro de Luanda never trailed again, and stretched their lead by as many as 19 points midway through the fourth quarter.

Childe Dundao powered Petro de Luanda’s offense with 16 points and 4 assists, reserve Olimpio Cipriano was 3-for-6 from beyond the arc to finish with 11 points, and Valdelicio Joaquim, who didn’t play a single second in the first three quarters, hit 3 of his 4 three-pointers to finish 9 points in ten minutes.

“We did enough to win the game,” noted Petro de Luanda head coach Jose Neto, before adding: “We needed this win because our first goal was to qualify to Kigali for the playoffs. My team played with spirit. They did what they were supposed to do. It wasn’t an easy win because FAP needed to win to have a chance to move on,” the Brazilian said.

Sparked by an aggressive Tyjhai Byers on both ends of the floor, FAP out-rebounded Petro 48-42, but the Yaoundé-based team struggled offensively, turning the ball over 20 times.

Cape Verde international player Joel Almeida led the way for FAP with 13 points, and Brice Bidias, the other FAP player to score in double digits, contributed 12 points. 

Talking to the media in the post-game press conference, he insisted that FAP “fought until the end. We never gave up. Our defense was there. We held them to 73 points, but we committed 20 turnovers. If we take a few of those and cut on some easy points we could have actually held them to 65 or 60 points.”

“This is a game that they made more three-point shots, almost double of ours.”

“We can take some positives from the game. Today our three-pointer wasn’t there, but we were better at the two-point line.”

It was FAP’s second defeat in three games, but Almeida remains upbeat about their chances to secure one of the two Nile Conference tickets still available for the playoffs.

“Right now we just need to focus on our next match against Cobra Sports, which will be decisive to our qualification, that’s what we came here for: To fight for a place in the next stage. I believe in this team, the staff put us in the right position, and, we’ll fight to achieve our objective,” Almeida pointed out.

FAP take on Cobra Sports on Monday before going up against Zamalek on Tuesday.