Dundao chief destroyer as Petro de Luanda down FUS Rabat in BAL

The shortest man on the court Childe Dundao proved that dynamite does indeed come in small packages as he propelled Petro de Luanda to an 89-86 win over FUS Rabat in their Basketball Africa League Kalahari Conference group fixture at SunBet Arena in Pretoria on Thursday.

Standing 173cm, Dundao scored 25 points, with three rebounds and two assists, while his teammate Aboubacar Gakou chipped in with 21 points to help the tournament's favourites move a step closer to booking a place in the next round. 

For someone watching basketball for the first time, the game was a proper introduction, somewhat of an exhibition.

It was like watching the Rumble in the Jungle between Mohammad Ali and George Foreman but this time Pretoria hosted the battle arena, not Kinshasa, as the sides slugged it out in the first quarter.

There was nothing to separate the teams as they went back and forth on the scoreboard.

They exchanged leads four times and were tied on eight occasions. Despite Petro’s Gakou hitting double figures, the sides were evenly matched at 25-25 after the first 10 minutes.

Spurred on by “Let’s go Petro” chants from a group of SA’s Mamelodi Sundowns supporters in the stands, who backed them because of the shared yellow regalia between the clubs, Petro went into third and fourth gear in the second quarter.

Every player came to the party and added at least a bucket to their individual points tally. Petro shot 48,6% in field goals, 58,3% from the jump shot and headed to halftime leading 46-34.

SA Hip Hop star Nadia Nakai treated the fans with a 10-out-10 performance at the break.

Following suit, Petro dished out a five-star performance in the third quarter.

Dundao and Gakou were the masters in offensive play as the men from Morocco had no answer to the Angolan’s turning it on.

Petro added 29 points to the halftime score and went to the final quarter leading 75-57.

Urged on by their animated head coach Said El Boudzidi in the dugout, FUS Rabat sparked a comeback in the last quarter and closed the enormous gap to just four with 50 seconds to go.

One could feel the tension in the arena as Petro fans started getting nervous in the stands.

But their captain Carlos Morais had ice in his veins and hit a dagger three and erased any hope of a Rabat comeback.

Johnnathan Jordan top-scored with 18 points for FUS Rabat whose next game is against Cape Town Tigers on Sunday (7pm).

Petro's final game is against Cape Town Tigers on Saturday (4pm).