LOP 21/09/2009 – Egoli fall to Wits Alumni
Alumni coach Maepa started the game with a relatively small lineup with Quintin Denyssen (5), Mboshe Ronunu (2), Tshepo Ditshego(1), Onkgopotse Ndlovu(3), and Dinesh Mitchell(4) starting. Egoli coach Cabby Cabenelas went with Joseph Mazibuko, C Dos Santos, Sifiso Ngcobo, Lesego Molebatsi & R Takaendasa to start.
Alumni got off to a great start in the first quarter led by the hot hand of Quintin Denyssen who scored 12 points in a row to give Alumni a 3 point lead after 10 minutes. Joseph Mazibuko carried Egoli in the first quarter dropping 8 points.
Alumni increased their lead to 8 points at half time after going to their running game led Djo Loo who had 11 points in the second quarter including an emphatic dunk in transition off two from just inside the dotted line. From where I was sitting he looked like an eagle soaring over dead carcuses. That dunk is one of Djo’s top 10 this season.
Joseph Mazibuko added 9 more points to his scoring total in the second quarter but he was supported by Sifiso Ngcobo who dropped 7 points. Mazibuko was uncharacteristically horrible from the free throw line on the day after he missed over 5 easy ones from the charity stripe.
The Alumni back court took over in the second half as Tshepo Ditshego scored his first 11 points of the game, Mbo Ronunu added 8 points to his total. The Wits backcourt took advantage of the miss matches, used the screen and roll and running game to open up opportunities for everyone, Quintin Denyssen came to life with 11 second half points whilst Djo Loo contributed 7 points.
Lesego Molebatsi must have had 8 offence boards as Alumni big men failed to box him out giving Egoli a lot of second chance opportunities. He made the most of those opportunities by scoring 15 points in the second half. For some reason Magic Point guard C Dos Santos didn’t play a single minute in the second half.
Alumni eventually won the game 103-95 in a much needed morale booster for Alumni going into the final game of the season and the playoffs. It was their first victory of the season against Egoli this season and the first time Egoli played them without coach Jose Costaleit. People speculate that if their coach was there Alumni wouldn’t have won the game.
As it stands Alumni are number 1 on the log having lost to only Egoli & Pretoria Heat thus far with a record of 9-2. Egoli Magic are second of the log with 8 wins & 3 losses. Pretoria Heat is 3rd with a better scoring average then Rebels and both with a record of 8-3.
In a much heated battle to stay in second place, Egoli will be playing Pretoria Heat this Saturday the 27th of September at Hall 29 at 4pm. Wits Alumni will be playing their former team mates Wits Rebels at 6pm on the same day.
A win for Egoli Magic, which I’m expecting, will keep the Magic in second position going into the semi-finals. A win from Alumni would keep them in 1st place going into the log and would mean that Rebels would drop to 4th because they have a lower scoring average then the Heat who would remain in 3rd place. In that situation Alumni & Rebels would meet in the Semi’s whilst the Heat & Magic would match up in the semi’s.
If Egoli loses to the Heat & Alumni loses to Rebels, Alumni would stay on top of the log but Egoli would drop to 4th place on the log meaning that Alumni & Egoli would play in the semi’s and the Heat & Rebels would play each other in the semi’s.
The permutations are endless. Make sure you make your way to Hall 29 to catch this drama unfolding yourself in real time. If you thought Generations was dramatic you haven’t seen anything yet…..
Article supplied by Tshepo Ditshego
That game was a bore everyone with eyes would see that Egoli where not really interested in winning that game, it mattered not if they had won it or not. What made it exciting was the dunks from Djo and one monsterous put back by Joseph on top of all the wits Allumni defenders oh yes who can forget Tshepo getting crossed by C Dos Santos, he fell on his bum. Those were the highlights as far as I am concerned, but the game was not that interesting.
Yeah…i must agree with Sifo…the game between the two teams during the 1st season of LOP packed more of a punch!!!
And was Castro injured??? Why did he sit out for most of the game…I think he could have done major damage had he played a lil’ more.
BUT yeah the dunks were killer compared to the game itself…let’s hope the next meeting is a lil’ more exciting.
Nonetheless…CONGRADS to Alumni….I guess the teams are even now in terms of LOP…let’s see what happens during the semis and finals.
Felt like Egoli magic didn’t show up ready to play on sunday…Castro yelling at his team-mates then sitting out the second half, their tall center missing a dunk on a 3-on-0… wasn’t really the contest i had in mind… Anyway, the magic’s play has been weird lately, so i’m not really surprised by their loss. Let’s just hope the 4 semi-finalists bring their A-game this week-end and also for the playoffs.
The heat still have one more score to settle, Egoli better have thought hard about their last game. Its a bumper weekend of BASKETBALL.
Get your MAMA, YOUR AUNTIE, BROTHER, SISTER AND YOUR 4 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER cos there will be ship of power in SA not just in the national Cabinet………
Go hard or go home with your tail between your legs.
I know it’s a bit late but guys just for the record although I admit I slipped…..I didn’t fall on my bum. I’m sure it looked bad from the sideline but it wasn’t as bad as it seemed.
Neo…Not sure about your predictions about a shitf in the cabinet.