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It was time for the medal round matches on day 5 of the Basketball event at the 3rd Lusofonia Games. After playing them in the prelims, hosts India took on Angola for the gold and the losing semi-finalists Mozambique and Cape Verde went head to head in a winner takes all match for the bronze.
The Indian Men playing for the gold made the Women’s final prelim match, which would decide the medals, go unnoticed. Mozambique and Angola faced off in the medal match in the Women’s division.
Medal Round: Men
Gold medal match: Angola vs India
Final Score: 70-77
The final between these two teams was fittingly decided in the final period of play, just like their group stage match. Both teams deserved the gold, but the Indian team came up big in the 4th quarter to literally grab victory from defeat.
The low scores also showed the increased level of defense from both teams. A close game all through, the Indians outscored the Angola team 27-17 to overcome a deficit of 3 to eventually win the game by a margin of 7 points.
The Indians, on the back of their unbeaten run in the competition, took the top step of the podium while Angola settled for silver, well deserved nevertheless.
Bronze medal match: Cape Verde vs Mozambique
Final Score: 37-56
The first match of the day was a match where both losing semifinalists had a chance to salvage some pride with a chance to head back home with a medal.
In short this match was a low scoring one-sided match. How is that possible? Well that conclusion arises only from the box score. In reality, right up till the final quarter of play, this match was a nail-biter with Mozambique having a lead of just 2 after three quarters.
Their performance in the fourth quarter is what really stood out in the match. It was a one-sided quarter largely due to Cape Verde only scoring 5 points and gifting 22.
Mozambique took home the bronze and shared the podium with the other medalists-Angola and India.
Women
Gold medal match: Angola vs Mozambique
Final Score: 49-73
With only 4 teams participating in the Women’s basketball division, the medals were awarded to the top 3 teams in the group after all prelim games and it was fitting that the final prelim game was between the two best teams, and unbeaten teams, fighting for the gold.
The game, however, seemed to be over by halftime when Angola was down by 19. It was a margin not easy to make up against Mozambique and that was precisely what took place.
Mozambique kept the pressure on their opponents with some good basketball and sealed the deal with a 15-8 fourth quarter to win the gold. Angola took the second step of the podium and received the silver. Meanwhile the Indians bagged the bronze, courtesy of their lone win in comparison to none by Macau.
