In the first game of a potential 3 game series in the WCBA men finals, The Vikings took control of the series after trading early blows with the CPUT Cats and coming out on top.

Starters: CPUT (6, 9, 15, 4, 13), Vikings (7, 14, 8, 9, 5)

The game started off at a high tempo with both teams exchanging baskets and making plenty of turnovers in the process. In the early exchanges, Vikings 5 had a good offensive game going with great offensive rebounds and assists under the basket. CPUT base their game on the running game and they were running the break at every opportunity and it was working great for them. Vikings had to figure out a way to stop the break so that they could minimize the damage.Despite fact that Vikings were much bigger than CPUT, they were not using this to their advantage during the first half but they had a good rotation going. CPUT had a good tempo on defence with CPUT 12 playing great defence all round with steals left, right and center. But when the half time whistle went, they were within reach of their opponents with CPUT leading 42 – 38.

Whatever Vikings coach (Tim Molteno standing-in for Craig Daniels who just came back from Madagascar) told his players, they came out of the change rooms all fired up for the 3^rd quarter. They reduced the deficit in the first 2 minutes of the restart and built a 6 point lead after 4 minutes had passed. The sizeable turnout was going crazy and with 22 seconds left in the quarter Vikings had a 10 point lead. CPUT were struggling to get into any flow and their game looked disorganized with each man playing for himself. As it seems to be the norm all over the country the referees were missing one or two calls here and there but they would be a non factor in this particular tie.

The 4^th quarter was all about Vikings number 4 who took control of the game with some crucial plays that kept his team in the lead with a great margin. The 4^th quarter was a great spectacle to watch with CPUT trying to make a run on the back of some nice cuts from their guards while the Vikings were trying to put the fixture to bed early. They were fighting for loose balls and being more aggressive. In the end, Vikings had too much ammunition for their opponents and they walked away with it 92 – 75.

Speaking to Vikings stand-in coachTim, after the game, He said that they had done the little things right and that the team that had done the basics better had won. The other thing that they had over their opponents was a deep bench so that gave him more options and kept the players fresh and on their toes.

It was a great game to watch and Game 2 on sunday 1st november will give CPUT a chance to show Cape Town what they are all about or it will give Vikings an opportunity to be crowned 2009 Champions.

In other news, the ladies game 1 was won by CPUT 81 – 51 against Future Stars.

Article by Victor Shakineza

In 2007 after getting frustrated at the lack of information about the game he loved in South Africa, Victor decided to start Mybasketball and he hasn't looked back. For close to 15 years, Victor has experienced the game as a player, a coach, a spectator and now from a media perspective. The whole purpose of Mybasketball is to keep the fans informed about the game and anything related to it; whether it is here in SA, Africa or Overseas. Victor has made some great friends along the way and rekindled some amazing friendships through the game.. Some of those friends have joined him on this crusade to make basketball better for everyone, and he looks forward to a South Africa where basketball gets the credit it deserves and the focus is on youth development and improving the coaches.

Victor Shakineza

View all posts by Victor Shakineza
Victors website

Other articles you might enjoy

• WCBA Super league: Montana Vikings vs. CPUT
• WCBA pre-season tournament: Vikings make an early statement…
• Game 1: CPUT ladies beat Future Stars with experience