Central Africa Republic’s Gift to the Cape Town Tigers…..Evans Ganapamo
South African basketball’s new kids on the block, the Cape Town Tigers, survived their baptism of fire during the first round of Basketball Africa League (BAL) qualifiers, which took place at the University of Johannesburg, Soweto campus from 21-23 October and saw them earn hard fought victories against Roche-Bois Warriors (Mauritius), Matero Magic (Zambia) and Ferravairo da Beira (Mozambique). The 3-0 outing enabled the Tigers to finish top of the group and earn one of the two qualifying spots for the subsequent stage of competition, the BAL round of 16 qualifiers. The round of 16 competition will see the Tigers battle it out with seven other teams, from East and Southern Africa in the East Division, with the top three teams in that pool, joining three squads from the West Division to complete the field of BAL competitors.
The Tigers fielded a highly experienced side in order to avoid the fate of their South African counterparts, Jozi Nuggets, who failed to make it out of the first stage of BAL qualifiers, during the first edition in 2019. In this regard, previously overseas South African players such as Pieter Prinsloo and Chris Gabriel, as well as international recruits including former National Basketball Association (NBA) players, Ben Uzoh and Billy Preston, were brought onto the squad and were expected to be the main contributors. However, a player whose performance definitely caught the attention of the match audience, was that of Central African Republic (CAR) international, Evans Ganapamo, who emerged as one of the revelations during the Tigers first foray onto the international scene. The 27 year old, 1.96m forward, who was born and raised in Montpellier in France, ended the first round of BAL qualifiers averaging 22 points per game (ppg), 4.5 rebounds (rbds), 3.5 steals and an efficiency rating of 18, in 25 minutes of play. Ganapamo’s produced impressive two-way stats, but they do not do justice to his overall contribution to the Tiger’s success. His clutch scoring proved especially important following Preston’s ejection in the match against Ferravairo da Beira and helped the squad from the Mother City emerge victorious over the very talented and highly motivated Mozambican side. While Ganapamo’s arrival to Cape Town occurred under the radar and without much fanfare, he is without a doubt, one of the Tiger’s most seasoned professionals who has made his impact immediately felt.
Before landing on South African shores, Ganapamo plied his trade with Paris Basketball in the French Pro B, France’s second division, which was preceded by a stint with German side SRB Rosenheim. Beforehand, Ganapamo took his talents to the United States and played NCAA Division I scholl Prairie View A&M. Ganapamo’s talent speaks to the caliber of aforementioned sides, which have solicited his services and while Ganapamo has not had a stand out college and club career, on the international stage, that’s a different story. Ganapamo has been part of the CAR senior men’s side since 2017. During the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup Qualifiers, he ended the tournament averaging 12.7 ppg. He built on these exploits during the Afrobasket 2021 Qualifiers, by scoring 15 ppg on 41.2% of field goal attempts, while grabbing 2.8 rdbs and 1 steal per contest, as he led Les Fauves to a 3-3 record and qualification for the tournament. Shockingly, Ganapamo was inexplicably left off CAR’s final 12 man Afrobasket roster, despite his above mentioned stellar performance as well as his presence in Kigali (Rwanda), whereby he played a warm-up fixture against South Sudan. Nevertheless, its safe to say CAR paid for Ganapamo’s omission, as they finished in 14th place out 16 teams at Afrobasket and had the second lowest scoring output as well.
The Tiger’s acquisition of a player of Ganapamo’s caliber and quality is testament to the club’s desire to not only assert themselves as the best basketball team in South Africa, but also, as one of the most competitive sides on the continent. Ganapamo’s wealth of experience playing at the highest level of competition could give the Tigers the necessary edge as they embark on the next round of BAL qualifying fixtures, where they’ll feature against teams which are just as hungry to achieve the ultimate goal of being part of the 2022 edition of BAL.
Some Ganapamo Highlights :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O5CVNlO460
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To6E1QMSDBk
