Braves of Customs successfully retained the Accra Basketball League (ABL) Men’s Division I title thanks to a 60-56 win over Adenta Leopards in Game 3 of the 2019 Playoffs Finals at the Lebanon House Court in Tudu on Sunday, November 17.
The win gave Braves a 2-1 lead in the series and marked a remarkable comeback after losing 57-65 to Adenta in Game One.
Mutaleeb Alhassan hit a pair of three pointers to open the quarter. Leopards got a three pointer from Kontor Appiah and a jump shot from Muhaimin Guba. Both teams turned the ball over several times but couldn’t capitalize on the extra possessions to score more.
Kwame Opoku delivered the highlight moment of the quarter by
dishing out a behind the back pass on the fast break for a Thomas Amedeku jump
shot. Leopards led 14-9 at the end of the first quarter.
Braves went on a five point run with Nii Quartey scoring to
tie the game at 14. Opoku and Guba scored to put Leopards up 20-16. Fred Asante
scored one of two free throws to extend Leopards by five with 5:48 minutes left
to play.
Rashid Zakaria hit a rare three pointer for Leopards.
Leopards led 26-16 but Samuel Abbey’s three point play ended the run. Fred
Asante and Daniel Ayarna traded baskets. Leopards led 28-23 at half time.
Ayarna scored first with a layup in the third quarter. Appiah
responded on the next possession and Opoku added four points including a wide
open long jump shot. Appiah and Amedeku drained three pointers for Leopards
with Hashim Brimah scoring four points. Leopards led 40-33 with 4:38 minutes
left to play.
James Pappoe scored to trim Braves deficit to three with a
fastbreak layup and Djimate drained a three pointer to tie the game at 40.
Suleman Abubakar scored jump shots on back to back possessions to give Braves a
44-42 third quarter lead.
Opoku scored four straight points to tie the game at 46
before Alhassan and Appiah traded three pointers. With 2:58 left, Braves led
54-53 after a three pointer from Alhassan. Appiah fouled out of the game.
Dodzi added two more points from the charity stripe to put Braves up 56-53 as Alhassan fouled out. Hashim Brimah drained two free throws to put Braves up 60-56 with 28 seconds left to play. Djimate stole the ball and run the clock down to seal the win.
By Yaw Adjei-Mintah
@YawMintYM on Twitter
