History for Madagascar as they stun CAF for maiden AfroBasket Qualifiers win

 

CAIRO (Egypt) - The history-chasing East African island, Madagascar have, against all odds, made history in Cairo, winning their country's first ever AfroBasket Qualifiers match.

Under the tutelage of countryman, Alphonse Ravonimbola who could not hide his joy during the press conference, Madagascar came from behind to subject Central Africa Republic (CAF) to their third consecutive loss in the first window in Group D.

Powered by the indefatigable Elly Randriamampionona, the Malagasy side picked a 76-69 victory with the lethal three-point shooter leading the scores with 22 points. He added a game high 7 assists, and 4 steals to propel his side to the historic victory.

"We had a somewhat bad start, struggling in the opening half but the coach, in his half-time talk, challenged us to believe in ourselves and give our all on the court. We pushed CAF in the third quarter and when we assumed lead in the fourth it was up to us to hold on for the win.

This is a big achievement for the team and even as we regroup for the next phase, we will be motivated to go the distance and qualify for the continental championship," Elly said after the win.

Madagascar recovered from a 6-1 deficit early on in the opening quarter to take the lead at 8-6, forcing coach Lautie Sylvain into a timeout to restrategise. The islanders still led 10-7 in the opening five minutes and held their own for a slim 18-17 at the end of a first quarter that had 8 lead changes.

The second period was no different, as both sides traded possession, keeping the scores close as the match remained tied at 22 and again at 25 points with four minutes to play.

However, a moment of madness, where Madagascar only managed two baskets, ensued. In addition to missing from all corners, the islanders allowed CAF to go on a 13-0 run and they were suddenly 35-25 down with 1.23 minutes to play.

The match headed to the half-time break with the Sylvain-led Central Africans leading 37-29, leaving Ravonimbola's charges with quite the task in the second half.

For a side that prides itself in range shooting, Madagascar had only managed to sink one of their 14 trey attempts in the half. Despite recording a better assists tally with 13 against 9 in the opening half, some costly turnovers and steals gave CAF, who looked to struggle on transition, the ammunition to create their lead.

The third quarter was a fight for survival for the islanders and they came close at 49-46 with just over two minutes on the clock.

Evans Ganapamo, however, pulled a crucial trey to give CAF some shortlived breathing space as skipper Livio Ratianarivo who had struggled to score in three quarter beat the buzzer for 54-51 heading to the final period.

Two costly offensive fouls for CAF would bring Madagascar level at 60 off  Randriamampionona's trey, the COSPN forward going back-to-back from behind the arc to give his side their first lead, since the second quarter see-saw, at 63-60.

What ensued was the most physical fight from either side as CAF found themselves trailing 71-62 with 4.37 on the clock. A technical foul for Johndre Jefferson and unsportsmanlike foul for Evans Ganapamo gave Madagascar the opportunity to protect their lead from the free throw line as they went on to pick the 76-69 win.

"I am impressed with my players' display especially in the second half. Despite having a size disadvantage, we were able to push CAF for this victory. We celebrate this historic feat well aware that we have a few changes to make ahead of the next phase yo help us qualify. We have to bring in more experienced players to give ourselves a chance at qualification," Ravonimbola offered.

His opposite number Sylvain blamed the loss on his charges 'losing their minds' in the second half, relying on individualism instead of team work and bad decision making.

"We had a decent first half but in our effort to keep the lead, concentrated more on offense in the second half, losing the defense battle, allowing them to score 45 points. We also took some bad shots as well that did little to help our situation.

We regroup, analyse our performance in this window and hope to come back strong in the next phase to qualify," the CAF tactician said.

CAF, who finished 13th in the last AfroBasket edition, head to the next phase on a 0-3 run.

FIBA