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Ugandan side City Oilers fell to Mozambique’s Ferroviario de Maputo 87 to 92 in the ongoing 2020 Basketball Africa League (BAL) in Rwanda despite a spirited second-half performance.
The Ugandan side endured a disappointing start to the game, trailing by 12 points in the opening 4 minutes of the game before Jordin Mayers came to the rescue with a free throw. By the end of the first half, the Oilers who had a 37% shooting success were trailing by 9 points (37-46).
Mandy Juruni’s charges returned for the second half with all guns blazing with intentions of reducing on the points deficit but the Mozambique side held on to edge the 2019 NBL finalists.
The oilers scored an amazing 50 points in the second half while Maputo notched in 46. Jordin Mayers recorded 27 points while teammates Robinson Opong And Ivan Lumanyika finished with 18 and 12 points respectively.
Ferroviario’ s Alvaro Masa had a game-high 32 points while Helton Ubisse, David Canivete, and Baggio Chimonzo all contributed double-figure points to help their side to a hard-fought win.
Oilers now needs a win against Cobra Sport Club from South Sudan on Thursday to book a place in the Semifinals.
The top three sides from this tournament will complete the BAL Regular Season for the inaugural competition that is set to tip-off in March 2020.
