Morais stars as Petro de Luanda down Cape Town Tigers

Petro de Luanda captain Carlos Morais led from the front in his side's 100-88 win over Cape Town Tigers in their Basketball Africa League Kalahari Conference group fixture at SunBet Arena in Pretoria on Sunday.

The loss was the second for the home side, and Angola's most decorated player Morais was the chief destroyer with a five-star performance scoring 17 points while picking up eight rebounds.

His teammate Glofate Buiamba finished with the same number of points. 

Like in the previous game against Dynamo, the Tigers had a nervy start, conceding the first two points straight from the tip-off.

That sparked some concerns from onlookers, fearing it would be a case of déjà vu from the Dynamo game.

To erase the worries Storm Gilchrist opened the home side's account from the free throw line.

From then, the visitors took control and forced head coach Flosh Ngwenya to call the first timeout of the game to settle the nerves in his side, who were trailing 13-4.

The crowd rallied the home team with chants of “Let’s go Tigers” but the side could not spark a response or formulate a plan to halt the Angolan bullet train.

The Tigers were also let down by poor discipline, conceding 15 fouls in the first quarter which hamstrung them every time they were gathering momentum.

Petro’s skipper Morais' eight points helped his side to a 31-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Samkelo Cele’s 10 points and Ngor Mayang’s 11 drove a Tigers comeback in the second quarter.

They clawed their way back and closed the gap with a combination of dominance inside the paint and three-pointers.

They improved their field goal ratio to 36.7% and went 38.5% from outside the arc.

Despite the Tigers' roar, Morais was unbothered, adding five to his first quarter score and ensuring his side had a 47-42 advantage at halftime.

The 16-time Angolan league champions continued their paint dominance in the second stanza.

They erupted in the third quarter adding 20 points, dousing any hope of a comeback from the home side.

Petro headed into the final quarter 77-62 ahead with the South African faithful silent in the stands.

They continued the onslaught in the fourth quarter, adding 23 points, and claimed a fairly comfortable win. 

The Tigers will have to regroup quickly before Tuesday's game against FUS Rabat.

Double-figure scores from Cartier Diarra, Cele, Billy Preston and Mayang will be something they will build on in their offence homework. 

Earlier in the day, Burundi’s Dynamo Basketball Club forfeited their game against Morocco’s FUS Rabat Basketball only hours before the third match of the conference was due to start on Sunday after refusing to comply with the league’s rules governing jersey and uniform requirements.

DispatchLIVE