Cameroon shook off a slow start to beat India 96-87 points in the opening game of Group B at the XXI Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.
The two sides had five scorers on double figures with India’s Amjyot Gill leading the way with a game high 23 points and 4 assists, while his team mates had Aravind Amadurai (15), Joginder Singh (14), Justin Gnana Selvaraj(14) and Yadwinder Singh (11).
Amadurai added 12 rebounds, Singh made 9 rebounds and 5 assists while Joginder Singh contributed 8 assists but it was not enough to earn India thier first win of the competition against an athletic Cameroonian side.
For Cameroon, Arnold Akola Kome scored 21 points and 3 steals, Robert Ngijol made 17 points while Piire Cedric Essome (13), Franck Yangue (11) and Mohaman Aziz Nkene (10).
After taking a 24 point lead into the third quarter, India struggled on the offence, were outscored 14-7 by Cameroon reducing the deficit to 7 points (76-83). They recorded 23 turn overs in the entire game and were only able to score 11 points in the last quarter.
With 3:57 minutes remaining on the clock, Cameroon took their first lead in the game with Nkene Tsaace’s jump shot in the paint (84-83) and they never looked back afterwards.
In the other game played in Group B, Scotland beat England 78-65 points. Nigeria’s D’Tigers will start their Group A campaign on Friday against New Zealand while host Australia play against Canada
