City Oilers head coach Karim Nesba praises local lads after Al Ahly defeat

City Oilers fell to their third straight defeat in the Basketball Africa League Nile Conference on Monday night. A 79-68 loss to Libya’s Al Ahly Benghazi saw the Ugandan side slump to a 0-3 mark in the conference to further wipe away hopes of making the playoffs.

But even in defeat, head coach Karim Nesba had positives to point to, starting with the performances of the players who had initially struggled to get minutes in his lineup.

Fayed Baale came off the bench to play 18 minutes in the second half while team captain James Okello started the game and played 20 minutes.

The two, and Robinson Opong, inspired Oilers’ defensive effort in the second half and limited Al Ahly LY, who had scored 50 first half points, to 29 in the last two quarters as the nine-time National Basketball League winners attempted to fight back in vain.

“Players like Fayed Baale, our captain Oxy (Okello), you know, those players are players of the team, players from Kampala for the City Oilers so when they play, they give everything, they fight and everyone follows,” Nesba told the press after Monday’s defeat.

The Moroccan tactician added: “I think I can do a good job of involving them more. I think by them doing this, it shows everyone, it's contagious and that’s what happened in the second half, everyone fought and everyone was happy to see an exciting second half.”

Baale ended the game with two points, one rebound and two assists while Okello got two points and three rebounds. It was mainly the defensive effort that the two added to the unit while Khaman Maluach, Patrick Rembert and Opong led the team’s offence.

Maluach, the youngest player on the team, recorded his second double-double of the tournament, scoring 16 points and picking 19 rebounds. He was three blocks shy of a triple double and continues to be the star for the Oilers on both ends of the floor.

Rembert has so far been the most consistent import for the Oilers. He scored 17 and added two rebounds and two assists.

Opong, meanwhile, got 11 points and six rebounds after an extended stretch in the rotation that saw him command 24 minutes.

Two of the team’s major additions, Dane Miller Jr. and Randy Culpepper Sr. spent the entire second half of the game on the bench. Bashir Ahmed came off the bench to score 11 points and pick nine rebounds.

With three losses already, City Oilers must now get some wins in the return legs of the competition to stand any chance of qualifying for May’s playoffs in Kigali, Rwanda.

Hosts Al Ahly (3-0) and Libya’s Al Ahly Benghazi (2-1) are the two sides dictating matters thus far in the fight for the two direct tickets.

The fightback, for the Oilers, starts on Wednesday, when they go up against the prestige of Al Ahly, who are backed by a partisan crowd inside the Hassan Mostafa Arena. 

BASKETBALL AFRICA LEAGUE

Nile Conference

Monday results

City Oilers 8-79 Al Ahly LY

Bangui 79-85 Al Ahly

Wednesday fixtures

Bangui vs. Al Ahly LY, 6pm

City Oilers vs. Al Ahly, 9pm