The pair of Jean Jacques Boissy and Marcus Crawford was unplayable for Petro and made it tough for every matchup thrown at them.
AS Douanes were looked at as massive underdogs going into the first semi-final clash of the Basketball Africa League against Angolan giants Petro de Luanda.
Coming up against a much more experienced Petro side, the Senegalese outfit had to be at their absolute best to book a slot in the final for the first time.
And the Senegalese side enjoyed the underdog tag and used it as motivation to fell a giant of a team and progress to Saturday’s final in Kigali, Rwanda.
Mamadou Gueye’s charges proved a handful for Petro, winning 92-86 at the BK Arena to send shockwaves and announce their intentions of going home with the title.
The difference between the two sides was much bigger than the six points that separated them.
Douanes threw the kitchen sink at the pre-playoffs favourites and had them in discomfort all evening.
Double trouble
The two sides went point-for-point in the first quarter, but Douanes edged it 20-19 and never looked back in the game.
The pair of Jean Jacques Boissy and Marcus Crawford was unplayable for Petro and made it tough for every matchup thrown at them.
Boissy poured in a game-high 28 points and did more than score.
He guarded Souleyman Diabate and was in his ear every second with trash talk throughout the game.
The guard also limited Carlos Morais to a mere six points.
His 16-for-17 rhythm on the free throw line punished every mistake Petro made.
Crawford, on the other hand, scored 26, including clutch free throws when Petro cut the deficit to three.
With 7.05 left on the clock in the fourth quarter, Douanes had a 15-point lead and were in dreamland.
But all that changed when Damian Hollis hit back-to-back threes to get Petro to within four.
It was then the trips to the charity line that made the difference, Boissy and Crawford, the go-to pieces for Douanes.
Hollis, with 19 and Jone Pedro, with 17, were the only Petro players to score in double figures.
Pedro had the opportunity to further cut Douanes’ lead to two points with 36 seconds left in the fourth quarter but missed a pair of free throws.
Bad day
In his post-game press conference, head coach Jose Neto revealed that it was Douanes that won the game and not Petro that lost it.
“They were very good both on offence and defence,” Neto told the press.
The West African side frustrated Petro’s star players and forced Neto to sit them for long spells of the game.
Diabate was perfect (4/4) from the charity line but only made one field goal on the day as Petro struggled to get going offensively.
It was the same story for team captain Morais, who shot two-for-11 from the field en route to his six points on the day.
Childe Dundao could only manage eight points, while Ater Majok had nine.
On course
Douanes have already sent a message to their final opponents Al Ahly. The Senegalese will be no pushovers and have a strong case for the title.
Having beaten champions US Monastir in the Sahara Conference, Douanes’ victory over Petro and qualification to the final should be enough to worry their Egyptian opponents.
There will be a new BAL champion after all, and Douanes know that the final 40 minutes of the season will be filled with joy and devastation, depending on what result they get on Saturday.
Ahly, on the other hand, have an opportunity to win it in their debut season and emulate local rivals Zamalek, who won the first-ever BAL title.
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