PE COMETS men and Nelson Mandela University (NMU) ladies lifted the PE Comets’ 2nd Annual Zanele Doopsy Ncipa Memorial Basketball Tournament at Raymond Mhlaba Sports Centre on Saturday.
According to PE Comets’ chairman, Sibongile Fondini, the tournament was organised to commemorate their utility player and technical officer, Zanele Doopsy Ncipa, who played a tremendous role in the development of basketball and netball in the community of Motherwell and the region.
The tournament started as a round robin and ended in a knockout stage. In the ladies’ round robin, PE Comets lost 28–12 to Gemineyez, while NMU thwarted Hustlers 29–19 in their one-sided affair. Hustlers redeemed themselves with a 31–19 victory over Gemineyez. PE Comets started their game in top gear, but went down 42–30 to NMU. In the ladies’ final, NMU earned a hard-fought 41–35 victory when they were up against Gemineyez.
In the men’s section round robin, New Brighton Knights were awarded soft-points over Zwide Eagles who did not pitch up for their game. The gallant Spartans punished NMU 50–36, while PE Comets got soft-points over Invaders BC who did not show up for their game. Rhodes University staff secured a well-deserved 55–25 win from Be Blessed BC. PE Comets trounced Hustlers 87–19 in an easy game. It was a gruelling task when Gemineyez registered a 38–29 victory over Uitenhage Kings.
Be Blessed BC dug deep to overcome Spartans 59–50 during their nailbiting game. NMU defeated Uitenhage Kings 47–13 while Gemineyez succumbed 50–25 to Rhodes University staff. In the finals, PE Comets earned an easy 61–44 triumph from Rhodes University staff. The winners received floating trophies and gold medals, while the runners-up went home with silver medals.
