Angolan champions Petro de Luanda handed an 89-71 debut defeat to City Oilers on day 2 of the Basketball Africa League Nile Conference in Cairo on Thursday night.

Aboubakar Gakou was brilliant for Petro de Luanda as he went 6 of 13 from the field for 16 points, 6 rebounds including 4/9 from the deep.

Captain of the team Carlos Morais added 11 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, Damian Hollis had a double-double 11points, 11 rebounds on his BAL debut while Childe Dundao also controbuted 11 points.

Former US Monastir center, Ater Majok who did not need much time to settle in his new team was pivotal from the bench with 8 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks.

The Jose Neto-led team started with a 10-0 run early in the first quarter but it took a time out from the Oilers to get into their rhythm. The Ugandan champions fought back in the second quarter to lead by 1 (35-34) with 2:35 remaining.

Petro had to dig deep to see off a resilient City Oilers who were determined to pick their first BAL win.

The 2022 BAL finalists outrebounded Oilers 54-36 and had more second chance points 19-4, with a good bench to compliment the starters who outscored Oilers’ bench 34-10.

Falando Jones shot a game high 22 points, James Justice Jr added 20 points for City Oilers and both made 6-of-6 from the line.

In the game played earlier, Cape Town Tigers needed the fourth quarter to turn around their misfortunes in their opening game of the Nile Conference in Cairo, Egypt.

The South Africans came from an 11 point deficit to defeat SLAC 75-68 in a game they trailed for most part of the game.

Evans Ganapamo made two clutch throws and followed it up with a turn around jumper to tie the game 47-47 at the end of the third quarter. The Tigers took control of the game from thereon and never looked back.

Ganapamo and Josh Hall finished with 15 points each, Samkelo Cele added 11 and Zaire Wade came off the bench to score 9 points, 5 rebounds with a game-high 5 assists.

Dane Miller scored a game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds but it was not enough to save SLAC from a defeat. Emeka Nwabuzor and Ismael Conde finished with 11 points apiece; Uchenna Iroegbu added 10 points and Sedrick Barefield finished with eight points.

Action returns in the Nile Conference on Saturday.

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