Judith Pantaleo drained a last-gasp trey that saw Equity Bank Hawks romp into the Africa Basketball Women’s League quarterfinals with a 76-73 victory over Overdose Up Station of Cameroon in Alexandria, Egypt.
This Group 'B' encounter saw Hawks make their intentions clear from the onset as they took a 24-22 edge in a closely fought encounter. They just did enough to hang on 17-16 in the second quarter to lead 42-38 at halftime.
When play resumed after intermission, it was the Cameroonian side who pushed ahead with a 21-18 cushion but the never-say-die Kenyans regained the advantage in the deciding stanza with a 17-14 margin.
“This was amazing, especially for this young group of players,” said coach Ben Oluoch.
“With three minutes to go, we had a three-point lead and we blew it off. But the resilience of the girls — where they inbounded quickly inside five seconds to take the shot tells a lot about the young players.”
“Clutch Judy came out big for us,” he beamed. “With five seconds to go, they managed to tie that game after we had blown a 10-point lead.”
“Melissa (Akinyi) took the inbound pass from Grace (Ilebu), Melissa fed Judy who made the shot at the buzzer.”
Pantaleo registered a game-high 24 points, Betty Kananu managed 17, captain Melissa Akinyi tallied 15 and Cynthia Mawero grabbed 14 for the Hawks.
Oluoch said they will be ready for their next match, whether it will be against Kenya Ports Authority or Alexandria Sporting Club of Egypt who were set for their Group A clash later in the day.
Overdose had 20 points from Sandrine Agoma, 14 from Raissa Magoun and another 13 from Susan Eben in this match that tied five times and had seven lead changes.
The bankers' other win saw them defeat ASPAC of Benin 87-69. The group also includes Rwanda Energy Group (REG) and Interclube of Angola.
