SLAC BEATS DUC IN OPENER OF SAHARA CONFERENCE

Crawford sparks SLAC in upset over hosts DUC

DUC point guard Thierno Niang shook Marcus Crawford’s hand even before the final buzzer as a recognition of his opponent’s scoring prowess on the day that the Sahara Conference got underway in Dakar.

Crawford turned out to be DUC’s headache for most of the 39:48 minutes that he spent on the floor.

As much as DUC switched and made defensive readjustments, Crawford earned the man-of-the-game laurels after making 21 of his game-high 30 points from behind the arc to spark SLAC to an 85-70 win.

“His performance was big,” acknowledged SLAC’s Dane Miller Jr. who backed Crawford with 22 points in the winning cause.

“When we needed a bucket he got us a bucket. He kept us on the game; Me and him being the two guards, we are going to have a lot of fun,” Miller Jr. admitted.

Backed by an enthusiastic home crowd, DUC went for break with a 45-37 lead, but what happened next was nothing like the opening 20 minutes.

Niang, who finished with 4 points and 4 assists for DUC, noted: “We appreciated them coming to support us. We wish we could have won for them, but this is just the first game. We didn’t play good as we were supposed to do in the second half. We just need to go and fix it and try to win the next game.”

Although the Guinean champions upset hosts DUC, it took them two quarters of the game to figure out why the Senegalese champions seemed in control of the game.

SLAC used a 14-5 run that was followed up by a 3pt from Crawford with three minutes left in the third quarter, and the Conakry-based team took their first lead of the (51-50), forcing coach Parfait Adjivon to call a timeout. But it proved worthless as SLAC went on to lead by as many as 16 points at some stage of the game.

With their destiny under control, SLAC never trailed again, while DUC tried everything possible to turn things around.

Not even the electrifying atmosphere coming from the passionate home fans could deter SLAC from starting their BAL campaign with a huge win.

“Coach told us to relax and calm down, and it worked. We played our game the way we practiced and it worked out for us fine,” said SLAC bigman Chris Obekpa who contributed 13 points and 8 rebounds.

“It’s a great momentum for the next game,” he said about the win.

“It was a great atmosphere. I loved it, even though they weren’t supporting us, but I loved the energy.” 

DUC small forward Jordan Aboudou, who opened the score-line with a three-pointer with 10 seconds into the game, scored his 8 points in the opening quarter, but he never scored again. He seems to have spent far too long in the bench.

The opening of the Sahara Conference will forever be marked by the colourful atmosphere inside the Dakar Arena with fans offering dances and choreographic acts for most of the game.