adminRADES. — Cape Verde beat Zimbabwe 76-65 in yesterday’s AfroBasket 2015 Group D action to move onto the Round of 16 with a perfect 3-0 mark.
Veteran shooting guard Mario Correja and Jeff Xavier propelled the islanders with 18 points apiece, while Zimbabwe’s duo of Eric Banda and Tatenda Maturere came up with 12 points each.
Although Zimbabwe managed a one-point lead early in the game, Cape Verde were in total control of the game.
As a result of the loss, Zimbabwe finished their Group Phase campaign with three defeats in as many games, and the Southern Africans will take on Egypt in the next round.
The turning point came when Vitalis Chikoko fouled out as Zimbabwe trailed 66-60 with 3:36 left to play, resulting in the team losing its dynamism in the paint.
Cape Verde made only 29 percent of their field goals, but Zimbabwe failed to capitalise from it as a result of their 27 turnovers.
Even though Cape Verde had their worst showing in the tournament so far, they managed to remain undefeated moving forward to the Round of 16.
As they have shown throughout the tournament, debutants Zimbabwe failed to capitalise from their opponents’ mistakes. — Fiba.com.
Online Reporter