The Zimbabwe men’s basketball team lost all three of their games in the Afro basketball finals in Tunisia. They lost 65-76 to Cape Verde In their final qualification game which was played on Monday.

Zimbabwe’s duo of Eric Banda and Tatenda Maturere came up with 12 points each against Cape Verde, and In previous games they aloso put up big numbers for the team.

Although Zimbabwe managed a one-point lead early in the game, Cape Verde was in total control of the game.

As a result of the loss, Zimbabwe finished their Group Phase campaign with three defeats in as many games.
Vitalis Chikoko fouled out as Zimbabwe trailed 66-60 with 3:36 left to play, resulting in the team losing its dynamism in the paint.

Chikoko has remained the top performer for the Zimbabwean side with strong defense and and an effective offensive centre.

He currently ranks 1st in blocks, first in double doubles, seventh in rebounding and 14th in points per game.

Despite performing badly in the Cape Verde game Chikoko remains a pillar of the team along with other top performers Eric Banda, Tawanda Chitsinde, Taurai Chitsinde and Tatenda Maturure.

On Tuesday Zimbabwe again played Egypt in a placement match and lost 102-62

Head coach Ellery Pinkerton had hopes that he would win at least one game at the tournament, but all hope is lost as they suffered yet another defeat.
Pinkerton also adds that it was a learning curve for the technical department and the Basketball Union.
“I had hoped to win at least one game but that could not happen, we know where we are going wrong and we will fix the problem because we had lot to learn from this trip.
“We didn’t get the best result but we had the chance to learn from others on how to improve our game not only for the players and the technical stuff but as well as the basketball union of Zimbabwe representative that are here with us also saw a few things that will help us in our future endeavors.
“It was not the best result but we couldn’t have done any better than that. Winning a game would have been a great opportunity but unfortunately we did not. It is our first time participating in this tournament and I wasn’t expecting flying colors, the boys gave it their all,” Pinkerton said.
Pinkerton says he has learnt from the other teams that there is more to basketball than what they were used to.
“The game has changed from what we were used to back at home I just hope the players will share their knowledge to those at home so that we can grow the sport from home that way we can improve our game.
“It’s a different ball game all together when you come across teams like these, you have to elevate your level of play if you want to be the best. We have learnt a lot and this changes basketball in Zimbabwe,” he said.