Entertainment but no victory for Sea Rovers |25 November 2004

Wednesday's defeat should be attributed to a disastrous fourth quarter in which they scored just seven points, while allowing Real to net 22.

The loss was the second in as many outings for Nigerian outfit Sea Rovers after their opening day 69-77 defeat to Baya, while Real rebounded from their game-one 73-87 loss to Premium Cobras.

Playing with just five players and wearing a Seychelles uniform, Sea Rovers trailed Real by five points at the end of the first quarter.

They equalised at 24-24 with 6 minutes 57 seconds (6:57) remaining in the second quarter through Okoh after rebounding his own miss.

The same Okoh drained a 3-pointer off his own dribble to give Sea Rovers the lead at 27-25 and when captain Anthony Ahmedu completed a three-point play after being fouled by Andy Tanner, the gap had increased to 11 points – 37-26 – with 3:34 left.

At the half, Sea Rovers' lead had been trimmed to nine points despite Ugoh banking two free-throws.

A Ugoh slam with 1:45 played in the third quarter gave Sea Rovers their biggest lead at 13 points (45-32), but Real gradually crept back into the match as their opponents grew tired.

Still in the third quarter, Andy Tanner was disqualified by referee Alain Dufresne after the Real player attempted to hit him with 41 seconds left.

As he left the court, Tanner, who cannot participate in any of his team's matches until the end of the competition, threw a bottle on to the court. Real's coach Rakesh Chundunsing was also hit with a technical foul for swearing.

Taking a slender three-point lead (58-55) into the fourth quarter, Sea Rovers, with only three players - Ahmedu, Okoh and Ugoh – shooting the ball, crumbled.

They became so disorganised that Real equalised at 63-63 with 6:42 remaining on a Malagasy small forward Denis Saotra lay-up and Ugoh committed an intentional foul on him in the process. Real then went on a 14-2 run to close the game at 77-65.

Big man Okoh finished as the game's top scorer with 27 points while Ugoh and Ahmedu added 17 and 16 apiece.
Captain Ghislain Fanny, who shot just one 3-pointer, top-scored for Real with 24 points and Saotra chipped in with 22.

G. G.

caption:

Sea Rovers' Okoh goes one-on-one against Real's Elvino Raphael