Game 5: Al Maghrib U21 94 vs. South Africa 95
(58393)Record: 5-0
Standing: Currently 1st place, locked into advancing to the next round of the tournament
(Note: In this initial Round Robin of games, the top 6 of 8 teams will advance after each team has played each other.)
Talk about a roller coaster of a game. At the half we were down 12 and Mugabe was only 1-4 from the field at that point. Then the team started to really come alive at the end of the 3rd and never stopped fighting.
Check out this wild ending as we were trailing by 3 with 15 seconds left in the 4th quarter.
(Time Remaining) Al Maghrib - South Africa
(0:15) 94 — 91 - 30 second timeout called by South Africa.
(0:11) 94 — 94 - D. Dingane (H) forces up a three from the top of the arc, guarded closely by E. Marzuban (A). Scored.
(0:01) 94 — 94 - A. Rahman (A) forces up a three from the top of the arc, guarded closely by U. Mugabe (H). Shot missed.
(0:01) 94 — 94 - The defensive rebound is snapped up by U. Mugabe (H).
(0:00) 94 — 94 - Foul called on A. Rahman (A).
(0:00) 94 — 94 - Free throw missed by U. Mugabe (H).
(0:00) 94 — 95 - Free throw made by U. Mugabe (H).
(0:00) 94 — 95 - End of period.
Clutch 3 to tie, then a fortunate foul by our opponent gave us the chance to steal the win and complete the comeback. Not as pretty of a game as we would've hoped but a win is a win! Especially against a formidable opponent in Al Maghrib who had almost perfect gameshape this week as they only had 2 players not in 9 GS, we'll take it.
Here's what a team win looks like:
- Great performance by Thoibo Lonco leading the team with 28 points, including shooting 10-14 from the free throw line.
- Another strong double-double by Umi Mugabe who finished with 23 points and 15 rebounds while holding the opposing power forward to 2 points. He was on fire the second half of the game as he went 9-11 from the field after halftime and sealed the game with the final free throw, though he sure kept us on the edge of our seats missing the front end of those free throws.
- Derek Dingane played 20 minutes off the bench, including replacing Hadebe after he fouled out at the very end of the game, and showed the ice in his veins as he came in and hit the game-tying 3 pointer even though he was only shooting 2-9 for the game up until that point.
- Gonasilan Sono continues to do the dirty work for the team. Though he struggled from the field (2-11), he still ended the game with an extremely important 14 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 blocks.
Up next, we prepare for another good team in Nigeria who won their own nailbiter today and are the new 2nd team in the standings.
Players of the Game: Thoibo Lonco
(48405732) trained by Giorgio950 and Umi Mugabe
(48097274) trained by JimyW
And thanks Sandy. Glad y'all are enjoying the recaps!
Also, I'm usually on the Discord during the games so it'd be fun to watch together if anyone is tuning in and I welcome more collaboration with the gameplanning we do there so feel free to join us at
(https://discord.gg/rZP27YpfPD)!
Last edited by A Warrior at 01/26/2021 00:35:24