Reigning champs Petro de Luanda prove too strong for Kriol Star in opener of Sahara Conference

Petro de Luanda followed the BAL reigning champions’ tradition of winning their first game of the campaign.

They stepped on the floor with a sense of urgency never giving BAL debutant Kriol Star a chance to contend.

They led from the opening jump-ball to the final buzzer.

A 10-0 scoring run to start the game, followed by another 10-0 run at the start of the third quarter proved too much for the first Cape Verdean BAL representatives to fight back.

By halftime, Petro de Luanda led 45-30 but not before leading by as many as 16 points.

And by the final buzzer, Petro de Luanda got away with the 103-74 win.

Five Petro de Luanda players, led by Yanick Moreira and Childe Dundao, scored in double digits.

For most of the forty minutes, it was one-sided affair with Petro de Luanda reaching their largest lead of 36 points later in the fourth quarter.

“Congratulations to Petro for the win because they were the aggressor. They followed their script on both ends of the floor; they won many second chances. Petro was a fair winner,” said Kriol Star forward Ivan Almeida who finished with 13 points.

Dundao reemphasized Petro’s need to send a strong message out.

"Our main goal was to start this conference with a win to take the pressure off us in this competition,” said Dundao who sparked Petro on both ends of the floor, finishing with 12 points, 11 assists and three steals.

Petro de Luanda’s intensity was suffocating, forcing Kriol Star to turn the ball over 25 times, which resulted in 33 Petro de Luanda points.

“That was the reason why we started the game with such a high intensity. We were ready to win the opening game,” Dundao said, adding: "This win is definitely an extra motivation for the team.”

Aboubacar Gakou, who finished with a game-high 19 points, said: “We knew that they have a very compact group of players, but we came in with a defensive mentality, which helped us win this important game.”

Moreira scored 16 points and EJ Anosike added 15 off the bench.

Former Petro de Luanda forward Anderson Correia had a pair of flashy dunks before finishing with 14 points while Richaud Pack led the creoles with a team-high 17 points.

“The biggest difference between the two teams was our energy on both ends of the floor,” Dundao pointed out.

The two-time BAL All-Defensive Team nominee added: “We are back in the BAL to try and win it again. First impressions count and this was an extra motivation to play well today.”

Petro de Luanda will face US Monastir on Sunday in a rematch of the 2022 BAL Final while Kriol Star will go up against hosts ASC Ville de Dakar.-