A weary Kano Pillars side lost 94-73 points to Inter Clube of Angola making it back to back defeat at the 2017 FIBA Africa Champions Cup on Tuesday.
Azuoma Dike had 17 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, while Lucky Okoh and Abdul Yahaya added 13 and 10 points respectively.
Pillars had a bright start but wore out as the game progressed into the second half as coach Sani Ahmed had only 9 players to pick from. The zone 3 representatives hit 5 of 22 down the arc and were out rebounded by the Angolans (47-33).
Nigerian Henry Okechukwu Uhegwu finished with 19 points and 4 rebounds. He made 5/8 from the 3 point line in 27 minutes played. Joao Jungo also put up good numbers in the game scoring 13 points and 9 rebounds. Other players who finished on double figures, Egidio Ventura with 13 points and Paulo Santana who scored 10 points both from the bench. Ventura had 3 of 7 from deep in 27 minutes while Paulo Barros also contributed 10 points in the game.
Pillars had a low scoring third quarter (14-27) as Inter Clube increased the lead to as much as 15 points with 1:05 left. Despite cutting Inter Clube’s lead with an 8-0 run early in the fourth, it got worse following a 15-0 run by the Angolans in the last 3 minutes. Kano Pillars will next take on host, Etoile Sportive Rades while Gombe Bulls will face Groupement Sportive Petroliers of Algeria on Wednesday.
The two Nigerian sides in the tournament are yet to win a game and would have to win two out of their remaining three games to stand a chance of qualifying to the second phase of the competition.
Images: fiba.com
