Sports Reporter Chronicle 1/11/2010
GIANTS dropped their first two points at the weekend when they were beaten 49-60 by a fired up Kings in a tightly contested Bulawayo Basketball Association League match played at B.C.D courts on Saturday. Kings were third on the log and moved a place to settle on 2nd with 8points and Goal difference separating them from new log leaders Lords. The match started off at a blistering pace with both teams eager to score more points than the other.
It would seem Kings strategy was to shut Giants trumpcard Mpumelelo Hlabangana down by tightly marking him. The strategy worked, as at some point the Giants coch Emmanuel Mukandi had to call his player to the bench to cool off . Hlabangana has been one of thr teams top scorers together Derek Chiradza and Michael Zvoushe who also failed to dethrone Kings. Kings playmaker Benjanmin Jani who was voted man of the match scored 3 points in the last quarter of the match that changed the game. He was left unmarked 7 minutes before the end of the match and made sure that his 3 point shot dampened the Giants supporters spirits.
Garth Hussey added six points just before the game ended. Hussey finished the game with 14 points while Jani finished the game with 12 points. Giants trailed in the 1st quarter 19-14 but came back in the second and led 30-29. The teams were level in the 3rd quarter scoring 8 points a piece but it was in the 4th that Kings hit the accelerator and took advantage of Giants failure to score their free throws. Kings had 1 of their players Eugene Mabhena disqualified for foul language but this and Chiradzas 19 points did not do much to save Giants from Dropping their first 2 points.
Log leaders Lords also continued with their defence when they beat Oilers 65-64. The mastch was also tightly contested and had to go to over time with the teams tied at 56 all. Player coach Theo Weale said they had more depth than Oilers and that it was however a challenging match. it was a challenging match but Oilers did not have the depth that we had. It was a exciting match, said Weale. It was a see-saw of scores in the dying minutes of the match with both teams wanting to score as much as possible. Veterans Mukandi for Oilers and Weale for Lords provided the experience both teams needed. The youthful Oilers looked up to Mukandi and Ernie Noble who defied age to play a good game