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Morais led the way for Petro, scoring a team-high 18 points, while Dundao and Hollis added 15 and 14, respectively.
Petro de Luanda were tried and tested by Abidjan Basket Club but held their nerves to win their Basketball Africa League quarter-final encounter 88-84 Sunday night in Kigali, Rwanda.
The Angolan side came into the playoffs with an unbeaten record from the Nile Conference but had their winning streak on the line for the entire period of the game as ABC attempted an upset.
But even in runs where ABC were on top, Petro had different players stepping up to ensure the game remained a close contest.
Childe Dundao’s quick transition and ability to make big shots beyond the arc played a huge role in keeping the scores close.
The experience of Carlos Morais and Souleyman Diabate also came in handy as last year’s runners-up were made to sweat for the victory in the BK Arena.
The Angolans started the game on the front foot, with Dundao and Morais offering options on offence. They took the first quarter 23-16, but ABC responded in the second.
New additions Tylor Ongwae and Omar Abada combined with Stephane Konate and Amadou Haruna to trouble Petro all night.
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17:34 - 21.05.2023
BAL AS Douanes pummel Ferroviario da Beira to storm Basketball Africa League semi-finals
Douanes will now wait to play the winner between Petro de Luanda and Abidjan Basket Club in the semis.
The two sides went into the halftime break tied at 41-41, but Petro established a three-point lead at the end of the third frame to close in on victory.
There was nothing to separate the two sides down the stretch as they exchanged leads until Petro got stops to close the encounter.
ABC took a one-point lead (82-81) when Abada pulled up for a two with 1.25 left on the clock to force Petro into a timeout.
08:06 - 21.05.2023
BAL REG coach Dean Murray says Al Ahly made them pay for every mistake
Al Ahly dominated the game from start to finish and took a 14-point advantage into the halftime break to keep the home crowd worried for the rest of the game.
From the timeout, Petro responded, Morais, connecting from the corner to hand his side a two-point advantage (84-82), but Abada responded with a layup to tie the game (84-84) with 53 seconds to play.
Petro’s Ater Majok became big in the paint, to and had two monster blocks down the stretch to give his side the required stops at this level.
Lukeny Goncalez and Jone Pedro executed a pick and roll, and the latter got an open dunk to re-establish Petro’s lead.
With 8 seconds left on the clock, Petro had an inbound on the baseline, but Damian Hollis turned it over by failing to inbound under five seconds.
Mousa Kone was sent to the free throw line after being fouled by Pedro and had the chance to tie the game but fluffed both.
On the other end, Pedro, who picked the rebound on the second free throw, was fouled and closed the game with two free throws.
In the end, Petro’s experience got them over the line, and they will now face AS Douanes in Wednesday’s semi-finals.
Morais led the way for Petro, scoring a team-high 18 points, while Dundao and Hollis added 15 and 14, respectively.
Abada’s game-high 21 points were not enough to keep Liz Mills’ side in the competition, but they bowed out with respect.
Basketball Africa League
Quarter-final result
Petro de Luanda 88-84 ABC Fighters
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