Joburg's MBB display great fight in BAL debut against Al Ahli

Johannesburg's Made by Ball (MBB) showed they are not in Rwanda for the Basketball Africa League (BAL) to make up the numbers, displaying plenty of courage in a narrow opening defeat on Saturday. 

Though their hopes of a fairy-tale debut of the tournament were eroded by Libya's Al Ahli Tripoli in an 87-77 loss at the BK Arena in Kigali, the Gauteng side put up a great fight, especially in the final 10 minutes of the game.

It was an enormous occasion for the MBB players, one they said they were excited about in the build-up to the start of the Nile Conference, but in the first 30 minutes, they appeared overwhelmed.

They couldn’t match the pace of Tripoli. They would close gaps in the score, but the Libyans would just shift the gears and extend again.

Tripoli's biggest lead of the afternoon was 19 points in the third quarter.

In a bid to be more competitive, MBB introduced their bench, but it lacked major contributions, assembling only 10 points in the game.

By contrast, the Libyans' substitutes scored 32 points. Their top scorer, Senegalese Jean Jacques Boissy, came from the dugout and added 28 points, seven rebounds and one assist.

These are areas the players and coaching staff said they would need to rectify before their game against APR of Rwanda on Sunday.

Despite a scare in the opening minutes of the game when Deon Thompson knocked two three-pointers from deep for Tripoli, MBB went toe-to-toe with Tripoli, who are deemed favourites to top the conference.

The north Africans were expected to run away with the game from the get-go.

But US import Roovan Mooring, who played in the NBA G-League, calmed the nerves of the South Africans when he made the first two-pointer and MBB's first points in the BAL.

MBB head coach Sam Vincent cracked a smile, and there were roars from the bench and high-fives as MBB signalled their arrival at Africa’s biggest tournament

The first quarter ended 15-10 with the Libyans leading and from then on, Tripoli stepped their foot on the accelerator in the second quarter with Boissy the aggressor.

They went to the halftime break with a 12-point advantage, leading 45-33.

In the third quarter, Tripoli seemed to have everything going their way offensively, but MBB kept up the fight, and the third quarter finished 64-50.

In the final quarter, MBB turned on the charm with Mooring, Teafale Lenard Jnr and Robinson Opong Odoch leading from the front to close the gap to five points in the last four minutes.

But Tripoli fought their way out of what would have been a great moment for South African basketball.

Mooring finished with 26 points, Lenard Jnr with 20 and Odoch made 15.

MBB next play home team Armée Patriotique Rwandaise on Sunday (5.30pm). 

• Anathi Wulushe is in Rwanda courtesy of the BAL.

Daily Dispatch