The Northern Cape Zebras face Gauteng’s Tshwane Sun in their first ever Basketball National League quarter-finals on Sunday.
THE NORTHERN Cape Zebras basketball club did a final practice session in Kimberley on Thursday ahead of their quarter-final clash against fellow Basketball National League (BNL) affiliates Gauteng’s Tshwane Sun on Sunday morning.
Sunday’s match is scheduled to take place at Wembley Stadium in Turfontein, Johannesburg starting at 10am.
Zebras’ public relations handler Thabiso Mohulatsi confirmed that Sunday’s game will be the first time that the Kimberley-based team made it into the quarter-final stages of the league since their formation in 2014.
“It’s the first time ever that the Northern Cape Zebras reach this stage in the league,” said Mohulatsi.
Northern Cape Academy of Sport appointed team manager Andrew Louw explained that the Zebras and all the affiliate teams in the National Basketball League (NBL) play a knock-out league format. This has seen the Zebras advance to the quarter-final stages after two consecutive wins against Polokwane Pride at the end of February.
The Zebras had beaten the Limpopo side over two elimination rounds with narrow margins of 68-67 and 71-69.
Speaking to both Louw and Mohulatsi it became clear that the league had been interrupted by the present Covid-19 pandemic.
The squad had a training camp over the period of December 18-20 to finalise the team. The camp was supported by the Northern Cape Academy of Sport, and due to the Covid-19 pandemic the league matches were postponed and rescheduled to the last weekend of February.
Louw explained to the DFA that the Zebras are a franchise that represents the Northern Cape in the Basketball National League.
Sunday’s games of the BNL will be live on Supersport.
