The victory, was their second in four Group matches, having won the first against Université de Douala of Cameroun, before losing to Kenya Ports Authority women and Sporting Club Alexandria of Egypt.
Having won the first quarter 15-26, and lost the second quarter 18-6, the Customs Ladies edged the third period 12-13 as both sides drew level at 45-45 dunks, going into the fourth and decisive quarter.
The trio of Maranne Johnson, Nkem Akawaiwe and sensational Olaoluwatomi Taiwo combined to propel Customs Ladies to a strong finish, and a hard fought 66-57 victory over CNSS of the DR Congo.
The team however had a day off, on Saturday which was official rest day for the eight quarter-finalists of the AWBL.
The Abdulrahman Mohammed-tutored Customs Ladies had to dig deep for what the tactician, assisted by the experienced Ogoh Odaudu, termed a scrappy win against a relatively weaker side, as they trailed 56-57 with 2.41 minutes left on the clock.
The side threw away an 11-point lead after the opening quarter that ended 26-15 in their favour, allowing CNSS to go 18-06 and assume lead at 33-32 heading to the second half.
Taiwo and skipper Akaraiwe combined for 44 of the team’s 66, the former scoring 24 while Nkem added the rest coupled with 14 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 assists for a game-high efficiency ranking of 27.
Coach Abdulrahman after the clash told the media that he and the players were in Egypt to learn and to compete; and are happy that their efforts paid off with the two wins.
“We played our qualifiers late and did not have time to work on areas that needed adjusting so we have been doing that as we go. You have to give credit to the CNSS team. They had their back against the wall, chasing a first win so they gave us a run. I am just happy we won”, he asserted.
Despite the win, the tactician admits that his team may not be fully ready for the challenge expected in the next stage; as the competition is getting tougher.
Nigeria Customs are scheduled to play star-studded Inter Club of Angola who finished second in Group B, starting from 8.30pm on Sunday; and the coach seemed bemused when asked what they would do to win that clash.
“We have just struggled to beat a team that has not won a match and now we have to plan for a team as experienced as Inter Clube. For now, I don’t have a game plan but we have a rest day which we will use to strategize”, he told the media.
Meanwhile, CNSS has one more assignment against Zone 3 second entrant, Benin Republic’s ASPAC Cotonou on Sunday morning, in the 9-10 classification match as both sides look to finally bag a win.
