POSTED BY: Eurobasket News
With the conclusion of the preliminary rounds of the 25th edition of the Africa Champions Cup for Men eight clubs have booked their place in the quarter-finals beginning Friday at the Sports Hall of the Stade LAmite, Cotonou, Republic of Benin.
Kano Pillars basketball club of Nigeria lead three other clubs (Maxaquene, Inter-Club and Manga) to the knock-out challenge.
Pillars coached by Coach Sani Ahmed is the only team in the competition that has not lost a game leading Group-A with the 10 maximum points, Maxaquene basketball club of Mozambique finished second with 9 points, Inter-Club basketball club of Congo Brazzaville and Manga basketball club of Gabon are tied on 7 points but Inter-club placed third having defeated the Gabonese side during their group game and occupying the rear are ASO Modele basketball club of Reupblic of Benin and AL Ahly basketball club of Libya, both teams failed to make the quarter-final cut.
Leading Group-B to the last-8 is the defending champion, Primeiro de Agosto basketball club of Angola who waited until its last group game against ASB Mazembe basketball club of Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday to determine its position in the group.
Agosto topped the group with 7 points, AS Sale basketball club of Morocco came second with 6 points, Mazembe placed third also with 6 points, Condor basketball club of Cameroon last group game win of 60-49 points over Nigeria Royal Hoopers basketball club gave them the fourth spot in Group-B with the Hoopers finishing the preliminary series on the fifth position.
Q/Finals Preview:
Condor Vs Kano Pillars 12H00
The first quarter-final duel between Condor basketball club of Cameroon and Kano Pillars basketball club of Nigeria holds at 12H00 Friday, it is a game of fourth placed team in Group-B battling the leader of Group-A but at this stage who wins matter most.
The loser at this stage will only have opportunity to play for classification while the winner will advance to the semi-final.
Having maintained a clean record at the group stage Kano Pillars basketball club must be at its best to guide against any slip as Condor basketball club will want to prove a point that its qualification for the quarter-final where it defeated another Nigeria side, Royal Hoopers basketball club was not a fluke.
Both sides have the player with equal sizes and stength but the team with the greatest discipline on court will surely carry the day.
Inter-Club Vs AS Sale 14H00
Inter-Club basketball club of Congo Brazzaville must rely on its psychologist to get out of the shock defeat to AL Ahly in its last group Wednesday to be able to match-up AS Sale basketball club of Morocco.
Inter-Club who finished third in Group-A would have to keep its head low and the players must be at the right frame of mind to take on the bigger AS Sale side whose major strength lies in the paint.
The Inter-Club versus AS Sale game comes up at 14H00.
Manga Vs Primeiro 16H00
The third quarter-final between Manga basketball club of Gabon and the defending champion, Primeiro de Agosto basketball club of Angola is a game the champion must not toy with given the fact that the days minows in Africa basketball is gradually fading away.
Manga who is probably making it to the last-8 stage of the biggest Africa Club competition will want to emulate giant killing Condor basketball club of Cameroon who shocked Agosto during the group stage of the competition last Sunday.
Agosto will have to depend so much on their double edge offense and close marking defense to stop the fast pace Manga players from making history.
ASB Mazembe Vs Maxaquene 18H00
The ASB Mazembe basketball club of Democratic Republic of Congo versus Maxaquene basketball club of Mozambique game is the last quarter-final duel of the 25th Africa Champions Cup for Men.
The game slated for 18H00 will see second placed in Group-A (Maxaquene) trying slugging it out against third placed Group-B (Mazembe) thrilling the fans as the fight for a semi-final ticket hots-up.
Mazembe with 2-2 record will have its hands full when it take to the floor against a Maxaquene side who boast of a 4-1 record having lost only to Kano Pillars basketball club of Nigeria at the group stage.
