Prinsloo stars as MBB snatch first BAL win at the death
Pieter Prinsloo and Robinson Odoch produced the magic as Johannesburg's Made by Ball (MBB) claimed their first win in the Basketball Africa League at the BK Arena in Kigali on Tuesday.
Ugandan Odoch slotted a three-point dagger at the sound of the buzzer to usher in wild celebrations as MBB secured a come-from-behind 75-74 win over Nairobi City Thunder.
Prinsloo is the main man that head coach Sam Vincent would have bought drinks for on Tuesday night.
The Pretoria-born star scored 30 points, had 11 rebounds and an assist.
Another standout performer for MBB was Teafale Lenard Jr with 20 points and Jovan Mooring, who added 10.
The win over City Thunder now means the SA team either have to win one game with a superior points difference, or two games, depending on how other matches play out in the Nile Conference, to comfortably claim the last wild card spot.
That berth is currently occupied by FUS Rabat of Morocco, who have won two games but have a negative 19-point difference.
Vincent reshuffled his starting five and brought in 2.13m tall David Craig in place of Nathi Sibanyoni, who had started the opening two games against APR and Al Ahly Tripoli.
MBB showed positive intent just seconds from the tip-off as Lenard Jr drove through City Thunder to put in a layup for the team's first two points.
Cheik Mbacke levelled matters with a two-point jump shot.
The spirit in the MBB side was at a high — the bench would stand up and signal that a shot was in, even before it was released.
This confidence from their teammates motivated the starting five, and they fired two three-pointers consecutively, courtesy of Mooring and Prinsloo.
Then Craig made his huge presence felt in the paint defensively and offensively, getting rebounds.
In the first six minutes of the quarter, MBB took an 18-6 lead but like in the first two games when Vincent brought on the bench, the tempo dropped.
City Thunder managed to close the gap to 18-15 with two minutes remaining but Neo Mothiba and Dyvonne Pfach, with their layups, ensured the Joburg side took a 22-15 lead in the first quarter.
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