Sommet has been the most in-form team in the second round and once again, they were able to clinch victory from a tough Victoria Crocs team.

After trailing by as many as 12, they managed to make a comeback to win the game 75-72.

This game could have gone Victoria Crocs’ way but they made a few errors late in the game and they lost it from there.

With 2:15 left in the game, Lola Minani scored a big 3-point shot to give Victoria Crocs a 1-point lead.

They managed to get defensive stops on the next 2 Sommet possessions but they never capitalized and that is where the problem was.

Lola opted for 3-point shots and unfortunately, he missed on their 2  possessions and before they knew it, Nyembo Fataki had sliced through the defense, made the basket plus the foul and made it a 2-point game with Sommet in the lead.

Nyembo then fouled David Mayom who unfortunately made 1 of 2 free throws and was unable to tie the game.

Nyembo struck once again. He picked the rebound and went straight to the basket to give Sommet a 3-point lead with about 30 seconds left.

After a timeout, we all thought that the Crocs were now going to try and go for a 3-point shot but to our surprise, Lola Minani went for a drive and he missed.

At this point, there was no coming back and just like that, Sommet bagged the victory.

The first quarter ended 17-16 with Sommet in the lead but things changed in the second quarter.

In the first 3 minutes of the second quarter, Sommet made 4 turnovers and only 4 field goal attempts.

On the flip side, Victoria scored all their 3 field goal attempts and had 9 points despite their 3 turnovers.

As a result, they took an 8-point lead but Sommet managed to cut it to just 1 with barely 2 minutes left.

However, Victoria spectacularly closed the half with 9 unanswered points, scoring 4 of 5 attempts from the field.

By halftime, Victoria led the game 41-31 but once again, things changed in the third quarter.

Sommet went down by 12 but they made an 18-2 run in the third quarter to take a 4-point.

Victoria Crocs looked disoriented, made some reckless turnovers that cost them 7 points but most importantly, they missed some layups and got punished for it.

Nonetheless, they were able to recover and take back the lead before Tembo pulled up with a buzzer beater to give Sommet back the lead, 58-56, into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter was highly contested by both teams.

Sommet led by 7 but Victoria made an 8-0 run to make it a 1-point game with under 5 minutes left.

Either team could have taken the day in the final minutes but execution from either lacked a bit more on the side of Victoria Crocs and they Sommet ended up on top with a 75-72 victory.

Match Stats

Sommet

Peter Cheng 21 pts, 10 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk

Kasereka Tembo 11 pts, 7 reb, 6 ast, 4 stl, 1 blk

Nyembo Fataki 20 pts, 9 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk

John Focus Teko 10 pts, 12 reb, 3 stl, 2 blk

Victoria Crocs

Chuol Nyuot 17 pts, 10 reb, 2 ast

David Mayom 17 pts, 12 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl, 2 blk

Erick Komagum 12 pts, 10 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 2 blk

Sommet has now won 8 of 9 games in the second round and have a chance of finishing in second place.

They take on the JT Jaguars next on Friday 25th at Lugogo Indoor Arena.

Victoria Crocs have been underwhelming in the second round with a 2-5 record.

Their chances of making the playoffs are now slim but if they can win some of their final games, they can secure the 8th or 7th seed.

They face the Rezlife Saints next on Sunday 13th July at Abja Park.