Poor start for Ghanaian teams in B.Ball tourney

Lome (Togo) - The two Ghanaian female basketball teams participating in the "Third Fabulous Basketball Association (FABA) international female friendly basketball tournament", the University of Ghana and the St. Joseph’s Catholic Youth Organisation (CYO), had a poor start in the competition.

Both teams lost their opening matches on Friday at the Stade D’Omonisport in Lome. The CYO girls suffered a surprise defeat in the opening group A match 14-15 to host, FABA, after taking a commanding lead in the first quarter.

The Ghanaian girls had total dominance of the game right from the onset and made the partisan home crowd stood on their feet through the 30-minute of action with Gloria Badu Nad Barikisu Musah securing the first four points for CYO in the first quarter.

The host team lifted up their game and managed to level up within the next three minutes with a perfect free throw and an immaculate go-ahead tip-in. FABA trailed by three (8-11) ending the first quarter but made a dramatic comeback taking advantage of their numerical strength after two Ghanaian players were disqualified due to four personal fouls with 10 minutes remaining to carry the day with 15-14 victory.

Kpadenou Afi became the hero of the day as she stormed the two-pointer zone and bounced the ball past her Ghanaian opponents before slamming it for the winner after the two sides were levelled at 14-14. In spite of the loss, the Ghanaians were given a thunderous applause for their bravery and brilliance.

In the second match, University of Ghana failed to live up to expectation, as they were whipped 35-22 by the Sport Athletique Marmerx (SAM) of France in a group B encounter. The "Legonites" looked dull and a bit rusty and were no match for the French as they could hardly make any threatening attack into their opponents’ area.

The French relied mainly on free throws as they took a commanding lead from start till finishing. Surprisingly, the two sides were of equal heights but the Ghanaians woefully failed to use theirs to their own advantage.

With these defeats, the two Ghanaian teams are stuck at the bottom of the table with no points. In the other matches, Female Dolphins of Nigeria defeated Renaissance Club of Benin 27-20 in a group A match while First Bank of Nigeria also beat CBS of Togo 34-16 in a group B encounter.