The heat is on as TUKS men beat TUT

By Victor Shakineza on April 18, 2008 in League

Considering that there are only 2 places available to go to SASSU this year, TUKS knew that any loss at home would be the end of their dreams with tougher opposition coming up. In this one sided affair, Tuks men came mentally prepared and they started the game by scoring the first 21 points from the 3 point line in an entertaining opening quarter. With the home fans going crazy in the stands, TUKS turned on the style and totally outplayed their opposition. All the TUKS guards had a good game, showing great patience and finding the open men outside for an open shot.

For TUKS, Benedict Ramakau, Simphiwe Mahlangu and Kago Masisi were red hot all night and TUT couldn’t handle their offensive game while on the defensive end Tebogo Mphafudi took a record number of charges and had a good game on the glass both on defence and offence. When the shot wasn’t on the guards used their penetration dribble to draw the defence and find a post close to the basket. But all in all 70% of the points came from the 3 point line.

TUT couldn’t penetrate the TUKS defence and made too many turnovers to get any kind of run going against TUKS. Led by Jojo Amissah, TUT offence struggled to get any momentum despite their height advantage; they didn’t convert their 2^nd chances and they were made to pay for their indiscretions. They looked like a team that had just started playing together and every time they turned the ball over, the TUKS team hit them with a 3 pointer. When TUT took the ball to the hoop they were met with some aggressive defence that did not let them use their big men effectively.

In the fourth quarter and with a 40 point lead, the TUKS coach, Danny Malothane, emptied the bench and this allowed TUT catching up a bit. The game ended like it started with a 3 pointer and the eventual score of 101-66 with TUKS victorious. The most impressive aspect of the game was the shooting of the TUKS basketball team and their accuracy from the 3 point line, in some instances their confidence was so high that they passed up an open lay-up for the shot beyond the arc.

Next up for TUKS is a much anticipated game against WITS while TUT faces UJ this coming Sunday 20^th April at TNG.

TUT: Tshwane University of Technology, UJ: University of Johannesburg, TUKS: University of Pretoria.