Zamalek of Egypt defeated South Sudan’s Cobra Sports 80-63 in their opening game of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) Nile Conference on Saturday at the Dr. Hassan Moustafa Sports Hall in Cairo.
Ike Diogu top scored for the Egyptian side with 17 points as the defending champions overcome the stubborn debutants who ran them close for much of the game.
Last season’s defensive player of the year Anas Mahmoud won the game’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) award notching up 10 points 11 rebounds and six blocks.
Mayan Kiir grabbed a game-high 18 points and 22 rebounds for Cobra Sports, whose inexperience, compared to Zamalek’s, ultimately cost them the match having only trailed 35-28 at the end of the first half.
It was Zamalek’s seventh straight victory in the competition following their six successive wins in their title-winning campaign last year.
Despite their win, Diogu said Zamalek needed improvement in certain areas as they seek to defend their title.
“Anytime you can win is always positive. We don’t take that for granted, every game presents its own challenges, next game will be another challenge for us,” Diogu told the BAL media team.
The BAL Nile Conference continues on Sunday with Forces Armées et Police Basketball (FAP) of Cameroon taking on DR Congo’s BC Espoir Fukash and South Africa’s Cape Town Tigers facing Petro Atlético de Luanda of Angola.
Four sides from the Nile and already-concluded Sahara Conferences will contest the BAL playoffs in Kigali, Rwanda, in May.
Rwanda Energy Group (Rwanda), US Monastir (Tunisia), AS Salé (Morocco) and S.L.A.C (Guinea) advanced from the Sahara Conference.
(Story compiled with assistance from wire reports)