Petro de Luanda won the first game of the Unitel Basket 2023-2024 final by 92-80, played last Friday, but their advantage was short-lived. Last Sunday, Interclube managed to nullify this advantage, after winning the second match by 97-92.
However, nothing has been decided yet and it is this Thursday that the two teams will compete again for the title, in a third game in which both are looking for a tiebreaker. This third title match will take place at the Pavilhão da Cidadela Desportiva.
In the first game, Petro's senior men's basketball team proved to be stronger and beat Interclube, whose game took place at the Arena do Kilamba. According to a note from Petro de Luanda, to which VerAngola had access, "the first quarter was the most difficult for the 'oil workers', with the 'police' giving a good response and Sergio Valdeolmillos' men still struggling to settle the their game, allowing equality at 27 points".
In the second period of the match, Petro reached an advantage of 21 points, "largely due to the success of the defensive rebounds and the accurate hand of the base Childe Dundão", with the score marking 58-31 at the break.
"Unhappy, Apolinário Paquete's pupils re-entered with a 0-7 partial, trying to reverse the course of events. However, the 'oil players' quickly resumed control of the match, with the American Markeith Cummings standing out in this stage, where the Rocha Pinto boys reduced the difference to 74-60, scoring 23 points, 13 more than the ten scored in the previous quarter", says the note, which adds that "the balance prevailed again, in the last minutes, with the national champions trying to control the game, while the police tried, at all costs, to bring the result closer".
In this match, Markeith Cummings was the most successful scorer among the 'oil players', with 21 points, followed by Childe Dundão with 18.
The second match was not so positive for Petro. Taking place last Sunday, also at the Arena do Kilamba, the 'oil workers' lost against Interclube.
In that game, "the first quarter was the most balanced, similar to what happened in the first game, ending with equality at 24 points, largely due to some wasted shots by the 'oil players', while the 'police' showed they had learned the lesson of the well-studied previous match", says Petro, in another statement to which VerAngola had access.
The second quarter was "indigestible" for Petro, as Interclube managed to achieve a difference of nine points, with the scorer going into halftime to score 49-40.
The third period, "had an intense decline, with the 'police' resisting the 'oil' pressure, managing to maintain the punctual advantage of nine points (65-74), as happened in the previous quarter", with the last quarter of the game closed with Interclube ahead on the scoreboard, having won by 97-92.
Interclube's victory in this second game, according to Rádio Nacional de Angola (RNA), was witnessed, in the stands, by Bruno Fernando.
