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Fungayi Munyoro Mutare Correspondent
STAR-STUDDED Mutare basketball powerhouse Mercenaries feel they were unlucky to settle for bronze in the just-ended annual Harare Mayor’s Invitational Basketball Tournament in the capital.

Mercenaries’ coach-cum-player Innocent “Stolz’’ Sithole said they learnt a lot from the tournament as they played big teams from other countries.

“Our team played very well. Although we played against big teams, we feel with a little bit of luck we could have achieved more.
“However, we were very happy to play against a team that had four Zambian national team players, Matero Magic.

“We beat them twice in the tournament to show that we are good enough to compete in the big shows. We got an invitation in May and it gave us enough time to prepare.

“We hope to continue working hard as a team and correct our mistakes. We are almost there as a team,” he said. Mercenaries earned a bronze medal after finishing third.

The tournament, bankrolled to the tune of $11 450, had teams drawn from the local leagues and neighbouring countries like Malawi, Zambia, Botswana and Namibia. Mercenaries were Mutare’s only representative.

A total of 34 teams participated in both males’ and females’ categories. Mercenaries were in Pool B together with Foxes from Harare, Matero Magic from Zambia and Francistown Flame from Botswana.

They dismissed Francistown Flame 60-25 in their opening match before edging Matero Magic 47-38. They went on to beat Foxes 48-32 to book a place in the quarter-finals.

A spirited performance saw the Mutare giants win 63-41 against Glenview Rockets in the quarter-finals to book their berth in the semi-finals. The Mutare side lost 34-47 to Harare City Hornets in the semi-finals.

The final saw Harare City Hornets winning the trophy convincingly with a 52-35 win over Looters. They were capped the 2017 champions of the two-day basketball tournament.

Mercenaries went on to play the third-and-fourth play-offs against Matero Magic and won 63-41 to take home the bronze medal.