Beira finish the Elite 16 Division East competition on a high note

 

JOHANNESBURG (South Africa) - Ferroviario Da Beira's Ismael Nurmamade put in a 25-point performance as they dismantled Cobra Sport in the final game of the Elite 16, Division East in Johannesburg.

The Beira-based team, who were unbeaten the entire tournament, won the game 91-65 and will head back to Mozambique with a bounce in their step.

Both teams, who were meeting for the second time after Beira won the Group Phase clash, had qualified for the BAL by winning their Semi-Final encounters on Friday, so the final match was for bragging rights.

Ferroviario finished the first half with a 45-30 lead with  Nurmamade, who had a good showing at the tournament, finishing the second quarter with 16 points.

Nurmamade, who had a great shooting night in the revenge match against host club Cape Town, picked up where he left off in the final game.

The shooting guard, who shot the lights against Cobra in the first half, also used his lightning speed to score fast breakpoints and was 7-of-12 from the floor. 

Beira continued their dominant display in the third as they stretched their lead. The impressive Southern African club was merciless and effortlessly picked apart a lethargic looking Cobra defence.

The Mozambican team's scoring run allowed team coach Luis Hernandez to try out his bench players for the remainder of the match.

Cobra seemed like they had run out of gas following their intense battle against Burundi's New Star, which went down to the wire.

The men from South Sudan, who entered the tournament via a wild card, were always second best in the clash and seemed content to let Ferroviario run them ragged.

Beira's Canadian import Jermel Kennedy was impressed with his team's performance and reflected that beating the Tigers ensured qualification.

"We are happy. The game yesterday (on Friday against Tigers) guaranteed that we qualified (for the BAL). We did a good job today because we respect the tournament. That's why we came out aggressive and tried to finish the game quickly," said Kennedy.

Cobra coach John Omondi was not bothered by the loss as he felt that the South Sudanese club had reached the objective.

"This game was for classification. We felt we had achieved our goal, so we wanted to have fun constructively. We faced them (Beira) in the group stages, where they gave us a fast run. So we wanted to see if it would be the same again. We tried to lift our performance a  bit, but they are an organised team with a good game plan. So, you have to give them credit for that," concluded Omondi.

Cape Town Tigers and New Star could not do battle for third and fourth place, as six players tested positive for Covid-19. The winner of the cancelled fixture would have sealed the third automatic qualifying spot.

FIBA