Defending Accra Basketball League (ABL) Men’s Division I Champions Braves of Customs stayed alive to force Game 3 in the Playoff Finals Series.
Braves beat Adenta Leopards 82-69 in Game 2 to tie the series on Saturday, November 16 at the Lebanon House Court in Tudu.
Customs lost Game One
57-65 at the Prisons Court in Cantonments and gets the chance to successfully defend
its title at 17:00 GMT in Tudu.
Braves Guard Jeffrey Djimate was the star of the
first quarter drilling a trio of three pointers. Teammate Suleman Abubakar made
three blocks and scored five points including a three point play. Kofo Asirifi
scored from three point range in the quarter.
Leopards
got three pointers from Kwame Opoku and Fred Asante. David Pinto scored a layup
but couldn’t complete the three point play after getting fouled on the shot
attempt. Braves led 26-15 at the end of the first quarter.
Leopards bagged back to back three pointers
including one from Thomas Amedeku to trim its deficit to six (21-27) with 8:39
minutes remaining. James Pappoe scored on a fast break after stealing an
inbound pass from Opoku to stretch Braves lead (33-24). Asirifi hit an
uncontested three pointer after great ball movement from Braves.
Opoku
converted two free throw attempts; Amedeku and Asirifi responded by trading
three pointers. Nii Kwatey Quartey beat the buzzer with a floater to give
Braves a 49-42 first half lead.
Amedeku scored four points in a 9-2 to tie the
game at 51 before Opoku drained a three pointer to give Adenta a 54-51 lead
with six minutes left. Daniel Ayarna scored one of two free throws and Samuel
Abbey scored a jumper off the missed free throw. Djimate and Asante traded
three pointers, Abbey scored another jump shot to tie the game at 58.
Hashim
Brimah put Braves up 59-58 with 3:38 minutes to play from the charity stripe.
Abbey dominated down the stretch draining four jump shots to give Braves a
68-60 third quarter lead.
Djimate and Kontor Appiah traded three pointers
and Baniba Dodzi added another deep shot for Braves in a wild start to the
final quarter. Dodzi pulled off a beautiful Eurostep for a layup; Amedeku hit a
three pointer. With 5:48 minutes remaining, Braves led 78-66. Pappoe and
Abubakar scored to increase Braves’ lead and clinch the win with Leopards
wilting away.
By Yaw Adjei-Mintah
@YawMintYM on Twitter
