adminEGYPT yesterday advanced to the Afro-Basket quarter-finals following a comprehensive 102-62 victory over Zimbabwe in the opening game of the Round of 16. Point guard Ehab Amin had a game-high 18 points to lead five Egypt players in double digits. Vitalis Chikoko was the only Zimbabwean to score in double figures with 17 points.
Egypt became the first team to score over 100 points in the tournament and also registered the biggest margin of victory to date.
The 2013 finalists led for all but 27 seconds of the contest, and outplayed the tournament debutants in all aspects of the game.
Zimbabwe’s Eric Banda hit a three-pointer early in the contest to give Zimbabwe a 3-2 lead, but that was a short-lived as Egypt regained control and led the rest of the way.
Seven assists and 24 turnovers are some of the numbers that best sum up Zimbabwe’s poor performance. Egypt’s Youssef Shousha made three of his five three-point attempts as part of a 16-point haul.
Zimbabwe never presented a threat to Egypt, although Chikoko, who led all players with a game-high 10 rebounds, protected Zimbabwe’s rim with a tournament-best six blocks.
The Zimbabweans will continue to battle for their first win of the championship in the Classification Games. — Fiba.com
Online Reporter