Mozambique shocked in OT loss to Zambia

BULAWAYO (Zimbabwe) – Another shock for Mozambique, who once were hot favorites to represent Zone 6 at the FIBA AfroCan in July.

This time, Mozambique lost to Zambia in overtime (80-73) and now sit third and last in the FIBA AfroCan Qualifiers Group A. All thanks to Elijah Mukelabai, who scored 28 points.

He accounted for more than a quarter of his team’s points, and added 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 6 steals to his credit.

Elijah Mukelabai is seen in action during the Road to BAL Qualifiers

Inspired by this performance, Paul Kashishi and Douglas Kandulu each produced a double-double. The first one scored 14 points, and 11 rebounds, out of which 6 were defensive.

Similarly, Kandulu netted 11 points and caught 17 boards, 6 offensive and 11 on the defensive end of the court, giving the forwards a hard time.

However, their feat could have ended up early. Both teams headed into the contest with the idea walking away with victory.

And this translates to a highly contested game. When they finished the first quarter, Zambia were leading 15-14. At half-time, both teams had added 18 points to their tally and headed for the cloakrooms with Zambia still ahead by one point.

In the third quarter, Mozambique finally caught up with Zambia, as they finished 18-17. But in the last fourth quarter, nothing seemed to be able to catch them off guard, both Mozambique and Zambia finishing with 18 points.

At this point, the score was 68-68 and they would resort to overtime to decide the winner. Instead of losing it, Zambia kept their cool and sank 12 points, while Mozambique simply could not get past their opponent’s defense !

Looking back on the game’s figures, one can see that Zambia have been bolder on the second chance points (20), while their bench contributed for nearly half of their total of points (42). Plus Mozambique’s 27 turnovers were put to good use, Zambia scoring a mere 24 points from these too.

With this surprising win, Zambia are now topping Group A, with 6 points in three games. Zimbabwe are second, one point away and Mozambique are sitting third and last.

It is now clear that Mozambique will have to win their next game if they wish to make it to the Final. But Zimbabwe overcame them in Day 1 and nothing is written yet…

FIBA