Antwan Scott put his early struggles at the Basketball Africa League (BAL) behind him with a stellar display on Thursday, helping Petro de Luanda overcome a stubborn FAP team, 66-64.
The former Wake Forest player scored a game-high 23 points, shooting 9-for-12, including 4-for-7 from beyond the arc, as the Angolan champions improved their Group B mark to 2-0.
With Petro de Luanda struggling to adjust to FAP's aggressive defense and sense of urgency early in the game, Scott changed the course of events for the former African champions.
He came off the bench for the second straight game and converted his first four field goals. His team held a 42-32 advantage at halftime.
It was quite a turnaround for Scott, who scored only two points on 1-for-6 shooting against AS Police two days earlier. Still, he wasn't satisfied.
"We can do a lot better than that. We are still growing as a team," he said in a post-game press conference.
Scott wasn't the only bright spot for Petro de Luanda. Jone Pedro recorded his second double-double in the BAL with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while former FIBA Africa Champions Cup MVP Carlos Morais buried his first BAL three-pointer in 13 attempts and finished with four points and 10 rebounds.
"[FAP] Coach Lazare was our coach for the past nine years," said Pedro. "He knows us really, and the only way to beat his team was to play aggressive at both ends of the court. We are happy for the win, and we are now focusing on our next opponent [AS Salé]."
Amadou Harouna and Marcus Thomas Jr. -- the only two FAP players to score in the double digits -- combined for 29 points.
"[Petro] Luanda is a great team, they played great defense. But we are taking some positives from this game. We are trying to come out with a win in our next game," Thomas Jr. pointed out.
Petro de Luanda led for most of the game but almost gave away its second straight win at the end.
With eight seconds left and Petro de Luanda up by two points, FAP used a full court press, forcing point guard Childe Dundao to turn the ball over with 1.5 seconds left.
FAP called a time out, but on the inbounds play, they turned the ball back over just as the final buzzer sounded to the delight of the Angolan fans.