BY OSTINE ARINAITWE
•Defending champions beat home side to reach final
Fiba Africa club championship
Yesterday
Classification games
ASPAC 89-62 Co-operative Bank
Kano Pillars 85-65 Inter-club
Semi-finals
APR 84-94 Primeiro de Agosto
Petro Atletico 90–88 Mazembe
Today
Fourth place playoff
ASPAC vs Kano Pillars 15:00pm
Tomorrow
Third place playoff
Mazembe vs APR 15:00pm
Final
Primeiro vs Petro Atletico 17:00pm
APR’s dream of reaching the final of the Fiba Africa Club Championship was yesterday shattered when they lost 84-94 to defending champions Primeiro de Agosto of Angola.
Primeiro de Agosto went in to the match as favorites and had not lost any match in this competition; while APR hoped that their fans could spur them past the Luanda based side.
The Angolans led in three quarters-26-18, 21-19, 25-21, 26-26, but APR’s spirited performance drew applause from the fans, who included top Government officials and senior military officials.
Center forward Isom Cedric and point guard Mathew Miller led the Indomitable Lions’s charge with 26 and 23 points respectively.
While Primeiro’s Vradimir Geronimo scored a game high 32 points to send his team to second successive final.
Despite the loss, APR coach Cliff Owuor saluted his team for putting up a spirited performance against the more experienced Angolans.
“Though we shall not play the final, the lads did a magnificent job against the champions. I could not ask for more.
“We now have to regroup and think of Tuesday’s third place playoff match against Mazembe,” Owuor said.
The final will be a battle between Angola’s archrivals rivals Primeiro Atletico and Petro Atletico on Tuesday.