US Monastir coach apologises to fans after Basketball Africa League final defeat

US Monastir coach apologises after defeat

JOHANNESBURG, June 2 (ANA) – US Monastir coach Ben Slimen apologised to the Tunisian republic after his side lost in the final of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) to Egypt’s Zamalek in Kigali, Rwanda, over the weekend.

Zamalek beat Monastir 76-63 to claim the trophy.

Slimen told BBC Sport Africa: “My deep apologies to the Tunisian basketball fans and we are sorry we tried to win it but we didn’t make it. And all the responsibility is on me.”

In contrast, Zamalek coach Agustin Julbe Bosch praised the efforts of his troops.

“I am really proud of my players, they deserve it. You don’t know how much they deserve it, I know how much they work everyday,” Julbe insisted after the victory.

“As a team we understood that trying to be better every day would lead us to win games and winning games would lead us to win championships.”

Bosch said that he knew if his team were to challenge for the title, they had to develop a consistency in both strategy and results.

“We had the same goal all of us. Our team showed the same character they showed throughout the tournament, the same level of concentration and even effort, even during bad times, we were able to step up all of us and make a good job especially in the second half.”

Zamalek player Walter Hodge was named the BAL Most-Valuable-Player for helping his team to six wins out of six with an average point haul of 15.5 per game, with 5.7 assists and five rebounds.

Hodge said: ”Without my teammates, I couldn’t get this. For me it was just special to win, I am winner everywhere I have been I try to win the championship and this is what I bring to the team, just trying to be unselfish and make sure my team is still good.

“Everybody stepped, they did a great job too. We trust our teammates, everybody was pushing each other. These guys always show character, I love my teammates.” – African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Michael Sherman