The Sasol Amawheelaboys claimed their first victory of the 2018 Fazza International Wheelchair Basketball Tournament, beating Chinese Taipei 59-53 in a closely contested match.
The victory progressed the team to the fifth-place playoff.
The team had struggled to secure a win but with the match against Chinese Taipei they wanted to prove a point and started strong in the first half.
They started with an early lead of six points but Chinese Taipei did not make it easy for the Amawheelaboys as they pressed hard in the first quarter.
The second quarter saw Amawheelaboys make the most of their opportunities.
Raketsi Molete was a pivotal player in both offence and defence and Kyle Bowles contributed some great defensive work and affected some steals.
The Chinese Taipei team, however, came out firing in the second-half, immediately putting pressure on South Africa and moving into an 8-point lead after midway into the third quarter.
The South Africans stayed firm and didn’t allow themselves to lose too much momentum.
They fought back to 2-points down, ensuring they were within touching distance going into the final period of the game.
The team built upon the momentum and took firm control of the game early in the fourth quarter.
Amawheelaboys worked all the way until the end of the match to claim their place in the 5th/6th playoff game against Japan.
