PRETORIA - Carlos Morais and Glofate Buiamba led Angola's Petro de Luanda to a 100-88 victory over hosts the Cape Town Tigers in Sunday's only Basketball Africa League (BAL) game, with 17 points apiece.
The earlier tip-off between Dynamo BBC (Burundi) and FUS Rabat (Morocco) was called off as Dynamo forfeited due to their refusal to comply with the league's requirement to show the 'Visit Rwanda' shirt sponsorship on their playing strips.
Despite power forward Billy Preston Jr's insistence after Saturday's defeat to Dynamo that the Tigers needed to come out of the blocks aggressively against Petro de Luanda, who were also smarting from their own defeat to FUS Rabat, the Tigers were once again outclassed in the first quarter, after which they trailed 31-14.
The Tigers fought back in the second quarter, with Preston and Samkelo Cele once again the two catalysts, as they had been in the Tigers' late surge against Dynamo. However, as the quarter progressed, Ngor Manyang became every bit as influential. Petro led 47-42 at half-time.
Petro regained control of the game in the third quarter, spreading the scoring throughout the team although Morais led the way as per usual. Petro took a 77-61 lead.
READ: ESPN's guide to all 12 BAL 2024 teams
Cartier Diarra and Nathi Sibanyoni grew into the game as it progressed, both hitting double figures in points along with Manyang, Cele and Preston, but the Tigers ultimately did not have an answer for Petro's depth and strength in numbers.
Markeith Cummings, Yanick Moreira, Aboubacar Gakou and Jone Pedro joined Morais and Buiamba in double figures for the night, while Childe Dundão chipped in with nine points.
Manyang was the game's top scorer with 20 points but ultimately in vain, and he noted afterwards: "Personal stats don't really matter when you don't get the win. I tried my best to play my role and help the team, but we fell short tonight."
Despite the victory, Petro coach José Neto was unsatisfied with his team's topsy turvy performance.
Neto said: "It's the first win in the tournament - very important for us in the tournament. We want to qualify for the finals. Winning in this moment is very important. We need to play better.
"I'm satisfied because we won the game but I'm not satisfied with how we played."
FUS are the only unbeaten team in the tournament - albeit with their second win having come by default. Petro and Dynamo each have one win from two games, although it remains to be seen whether or not Dynamo will take to the court again.