FIBA: Oilers to 'bounce back' after first defeat

By Charles Mutebi in Cairo, Egypt

FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup result

GSP 77 Oilers 69

Ugandan champions City Oilers paid the price for a poor second quarter against Algeria's GSP as the 2016 FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup got underway on Wednesday at the Abdallah Faizal basketball stadium in Cairo, Egypt.

The Oilers lost the game 77-69 but all this largely down to losing the second period 24-5.

Stanley Ociti (pictured) snatched a game-high 24 points and 12 rebounds for the Oilers, who started the game with confidence and matched their Algerian foes, with the first quarter ending at 18 points apiece.

But GSP played the kind of crisp and intense game on both ends of the floor that left the Oilers dazed as they pulled away in the second period, at one point scoring 20 unanswered points.

Hamdini Abdellah came off the bench to do the damage for GSP and eventually finished with a game-high 27 points.

Mandy Juruni's Oilers did not, however, go down without a fight. They rallied to win the third quarter 27-11, with Jimmy Enabu (17 points) and Landry Ndikumana (12 points and 11 rebounds) complementing Ociti's impressive shooting show.

The Oilers cut the deficit to 53-50 at the end of the third quarter but they relied too heavily on their starters for the comeback. It cost them in the fourth quarter, as they tired and GSP slowly took advantage.

"We had such a terrible second quarter and you can't do that here," Ociti told the New Vision. "But we will bounce back."

Action continues Thursday.