tawandamusarurwa
Online Reporter
Some believe Zimbabwe’s basketball star Vitalis Chikoko deserves a lot better than what he has currently been getting on the court, both internationally and in the French domestic league.
Fresh off almost single-handedly carrying Zimbabwe to a maiden AfroCan Championship appearance last week, the 32-year-old centre returned to his base in France only for his team Pau Orthez to go down 76-78 to Boulogne-Levallois Metropolitans 92 in his first full game back on Tuesday.
Much like he did throughout the AfroCan Championship Qualifiers last week before Zimbabwe lost to Mozambique, Chikoko stood head and shoulders above the rest.
He finished with a game-high 26 points, six rebounds and one assist.
However, it was all in vain as the Pau-based outfit went down by two points to Boulogne-Levallois, who are second on the France LNB Pro A log standings.
It was a tightly contested affair in which both teams took turns to outscore each other during the games’ four quarters.
The visitors, Boulogne-Levallois, came out of the blocks faster to take an early 25-23 lead in the first quarter, before Chikoko’s side rallied back in the second and took it 21-27.
This gave them a narrow four-point lead at the break, with scores at 50-46 in favour of Pau-Orthez.
The second half turned out to be a low-scoring affair, as Pau-Orthez could only add 26 more points to that total, while their opponents scored 32 and dominated both quarters.
In the end, however, the collective effort of Boulogne-Levallois’ trio of Tremont Waters, Victor Wembanyama and TeShawn Thomas made the difference, as they all finished with double-digit scores.
Waters top scored for his team with 20 points, two rebounds and eight assists, while Wembanyama also had 20 points, nine rebounds and one assist.
Thomas was not too far behind, as he chipped in with 17 points and eight rebounds.
Only Chikoko’s contributions stood out as the next Pau-Orthez player Giovan Oniangue had a paltry 10 points, three rebounds and three assists.
The rest of his teammates failed to reach double figures.
The loss leaves Chikoko’s outfit one rung above the relegation places in 16th place, with a record of eight wins and 14 defeats after 22 games.
Pau-Orthez will get a chance to redeem themselves when square up against 14th-ranked Le Portel away on Saturday.
Online Reporter