adminRicky Zililo in BULAWAYO
THE Zimbabwe senior men’s team laboured to their first victory of the Afro-Basketball and All-Africa Games qualifiers beating Indian Ocean islanders Seychelles 69-61 at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair Grounds last night.
The win kept Zimbabwe’s hopes of qualifying for the Afro-Basketball Championships which will be co-hosted by Tunisia and Cameroon later this year alive.
Zimbabwe lost their opening two games to South Africa 60-64 and continental giants Angola 49-100.
They now need to settle for second place to qualify for the Afro-Basketball Championships alongside defending champions Angola.
Against Seychelles last night, Zimbabwe ran out of steam in the last quarter but still managed to sneak away with maximum points taking their tally to four after two matches.
Tatenda Matarure top scored for Zimbabwe getting 32 points followed by Tawanda Chitsinde who managed 17 with most of their teammates failing to reach double digit points.
Despite seeing his charges living on the wire in the dying minutes of the game, Zimbabwe’s coach Chewy Gilbert was full of praise for his team.
“The boys showed character today and came here with a good mentality against a Seychelles side that is also equally good.
“We did everything we could to win this game and defended well even when our big boys (Tawanda Chitsinde and Everisto Pasipamire) got in trouble.
“I had to pull them out for sometime as I was protecting them after picking up many fouls that could have resulted in them being expelled from the match. The guys who came in tried their best and defended and I’m happy for them,” Gilbert said. Following South Africa’s 122-65 defeat to Angola in an earlier match yesterday, Zimbabwe’s chances of earning a ticket to the Afro-basketball Championships are bright.
Online Reporter