Basketball in Africa

Teamwork is the key to victory in sports, it’s often argued. A team with good players who can’t put their act together usually achieves less success and this can explain why Greece beat USA in the semis of the FIBA World Championships, writes Daily Monitor’s Sande Bashaija.

The likes of Carmelo Anthony, Joe Johnson, Dwight Howard, Kirk Hinrich, LeBrone James and Dwayne Wade were outwitted by the lesser-fancied Michalis Kakiouzis, Lazaros Papadopoulos, Kostas Tsartsari, Nikos Zisis and company.Though it may sound ridiculous to draw a comparison between Uganda’s basketball and the rest of the world, there are many lessons that can be picked from the Greece-USA experience.

Uganda Christian University (UCU) Mukono joined the basketball league two years ago and the only game they have lost since then was on their debut to Spena Angels. They emerged the 2005 Second Division champions, earned promotion to the Yello Go Conference and did not register a loss this season. Like Greece, UCU coach Jason Mehl says; “I think we are the most hardworking team in the country. We run very hard in training and the teamwork is just immense.”

UCU beat Nkumba in the semis of the Utl sponsored university league and downed Makerere in the final and also claimed the East Africa University Games basketball championship.

Great year ruined
Having gone the season unbeaten Mehl says his team assembled at Lugogo Indoor Stadium hoping to scoop an award or at least recognition. Unfortunately all UCU could be given was a plaque. And without hesitation Mehl said; “My boys have rejected the plaque and I support their decision.

Look at the second best team (Knight Riders) in our conference; they have been voted most improved and decorated with medals.” “How can you give an MVP a t-shirt and Shs20,000. “A medal is something that a player will keep and cherish for some good years,” Mehl added.

A hurting experience it was but Mehl believes it will be a motivation for the 2007 season in the top flight. Which was a more improved team than UCU last season? I doubt if any.

Marines’ style
For the second year running Marines won the MTN Basketball League championship. Unlike in the past when Marines relied on the individual skills of Norman Blick, the 2006 season was different. The Entebbe-based side started the season without Blick, and outsmarted Falcons in the league opener.

With Blick back from Qatar mid-season, ironically Marines started faltering (maybe because they banked on him so much) and ended up losing four games in the regular season but still squeezed through to the last four.

In the best of three semis though, the task looked more daunting than the qualification. This was because Marines had to face Falcons, a team that tested defeat only twice in the regular season hence qualifying as number one.
Falcons looked unstoppable but not to Marines. Game one of the series at YMCA was fiercely contested and marred by awful refereeing. Falcons won 62-60. The next two games at Lugogo, a venue Marines refer to as ‘slaughter house’ are forgettable for Falcons-they lost the series 1-2. Falcons’ below par display may be blamed on the team’s over reliance on Henry Malinga who was struggling with a knee injury.

Resurrection
The biggest resurrection however came against Power in game four of the final series. Power led 33-19 after five minutes of second quarter but Marines took the day and this was without Blick who fouled out early in the fourth quarter.

With Boniface Okello, Carrol Bisereko, Paul Mwaka, Salim Ali, Donald Blick and Karl Mugalu, Marines heavily relied on teamwork to reatain the trophy.
Without Wilbrod Oketcho Sadolin Power banked on teamwork that almost saw them eclipse Marines in game four of the series. But had Power thought about victory without Oketcho and Ken Balyesusa, may be we would have seen a different champ.
Like Marines, ladies champions Lady Bucks came from behind to beat KCC Leopards in three games of the finals. Most remarkable was game four in which Leopards had a 15-7 first quarter advantage but lost the game 44-59.

Biggest collapse
No team looked more poised to win the ladies championship than KCC Leopards. They won all their games in the regular season but only God knows how they crumbled.

Marines and UCU stole the show in 2006 but should focus be more on teamwork, 2007 is likely to be a great season.

The national classic basketball league tips off on April 6 at three venues.Steve Nyakina, the Kenya Basketball Federation competitions secretary while releasing the calendar said the matches would be held in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.
He said it was official that Nakuru Club and Coast Youth Club, who withdrew from the Premier League last year, have been excluded from the programme.
He said the Rift Valley Province team has not finished payment of league fee for the last two years.

Premier Men:
Ulinzi, Co-operative Bank of Kenya, United States International University, KCB Lions, Kenyatta University Pirates, University of Nairobi Terrorists, International Christian Center, Kisumu Lakeside, Java Warriors and Strathmore University.

Women:
Telkom, Kenya Ports Authority, Sprite Storms, Yana Milele, Usiu, University of Nairobi Dynamites, Jomo Kentarra University of Agriculture and Technology, Kisumu Lakers, CDT.

Harare basketball league which is the dominant force in local basketball has bemoaned the lack of international competitions for the senior teams saying it impacts negatively on the development of the game.

Harare Basketball League administrator Simon Lawson says the basketball union of Zimbabwe needs to organize more tournaments for the seniors if the country is to do well at international competitions.
Lawson said the talent that is being developed at the national youth games and Zone Six youth games is being put to waste as they have no other level where they can compete at international level.

Zimbabwe has functional provincial leagues in only two provinces in Harare and Bulawayo.
Some clubs once formed a national league but were suspended by the national association who were against the idea which has left many teams in provinces without provincial leagues having nowhere to play.

This are the players born in Africa, in the Portuguese League UZO.
Same of them have dual nacionality (Portuguese and his born country)

LUSITANIA – Joaquim Soares 83 1,88m Cabo Verde
Anastácio Sami 76 2,07m Guiné – Bissau
Romualdo Vieira 83 2,01m Guiné – Bissau
Vladimir Teixeira 85 1,79m Angola

BARREIRENSE - João Gomes “Betinho” 85 1,99m Cabo Verde
Manuel Sicó 88 2,02m Guiné – Bissau

BELENENSES – Benedito Suca 84 1,95m Angola
Mário Jorge 77 1,90m Cabo Verde
Abdulay Fathy 87 2,00m Cabo Verde

BENFICA - Aldevino Lima 86 2,03m Cabo Verde
Carlos Andrade 79 1,95m Cabo Verde
Francisco Rodrigues 78 1,92m Guiné – Bissau

CAB - Seco Câmara 76 1,95m Guiné – Bissau

PORTO - Francisco Machado 81 Angola
Marques Houtman 1,93m Cabo Verde
Rodrigo Mascarenhas 80 1,98m Cabo Verde

GINÁSIO - Camby Brito 83 1,97m Angola

OVARENSE - Elvis Évora 78 2,05m Cabo Verde

QUELUZ - Danilson Moreira 87 1,90m Angola
Ike Nwankwo 73 2,09m Nigéria

There are strong indications that Nigeria has been tipped as favourite to host the next edition of the FIBA African Nations Cup Basketball Championship for men.

Trustsports gathered that the technical report of the last African Club Championship for Men, hosted by Dodan Warriors in Lagos, has placed the country at an advantage position to host again the rest of Africa.The reports submitted to FIBA headquarter by the technical committee of the last FIBA championship dwelled on the good provision of facilities, accommodation and security arrangement put in place during the championship.

The facilities according to the report were of top standard and would be able to host the Nations Cup championship.

Meanwhile, President of Nigeria Basketball Federation, Buba Gyang has reiterated Nigeria's preparedness towards hosting the African Nations Cup for Men.Gyang, who was excited at the successful hosting of the FIBA African Championship by Dodan Warriors hinted that the Federation is on the verge of completing all necessary papers works and discussions with top officials of the African basketball ruling body, FIBA Africa.

"We are ripe to host the African Nations Cup if what I saw during the Champions Cup is anything to go bye. Discussion is on at the secretariat of FIBA Africa, once we agreed and the consent given, we'll do better than this," he said during the final of the Championship which was won by Athletico Petroles of Angola.

"Dodan Warriors did a marvelous job and have shown that given added responsibility, we'll do more," Buba submitted.

MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR

There are strong indications that Nigeria has been tipped as favourite to host the next edition of the FIBA African Nations Cup Basketball Championship for Men.
Sports Champions gathered that the technical report of the last African Club Championship for Men, hosted by Dodan Warriors in Lagos, has placed the country at an advantage position to host again the rest of Africa.
The reports submitted to FIBA headquarter by the technical committee of the last FIBA championship dwelled on the good provision of facilities, accommodation and security arrangement put in place during the championship.
The facilities according to the report were of top standard and would be able to host the Nations Cup championship.
Meanwhile, President of Nigeria Basketball Federation, Buba Gyang has reiterated Nigeria's preparedness towards hosting the African Nations Cup for Men.Gyang, who was excited at the successful hosting of the FIBA African Championship by Dodan Warriors hinted that the Federation is on the verge of completing all necessary papers works and discussions with top officials of the African basketball ruling body, FIBA Africa.

"We are ripe to host the African Nations Cup if what I saw during the Champions Cup is anything to go bye. Discussion is on at the secretariat of FIBA Africa, once we agreed and the consent given, we'll do better than this," he said during the final of the Championship which was won by Athletico Petroles of Angola.

"Dodan Warriors did a marvelous job and have shown that given added responsibility, we'll do more," Buba submitted.

N its 14th edition, everyone expected the Abraham Lincoln International Basketball tournament that took place December 8-10 to be the most exciting and organised. Save for the few upsets especially those against Kenyan teams, the tourney left a lot to be desired.

Late coming

Foreign teams reported late while local teams confirmed participation behind schedule.

Unlike in other editions where many junior and some few senior games were played on day one, this time round only three games were played on the opening day.

Giants missing

Gone are the days when the event used to draw teams from Rwanda, Tanzania, Burundi, DR Congo, among others.

This time round it was a Kenya-Uganda affair. Thank God, the defending champions Kenya's United States International University (USIU) took part. The team's head coach George Mayenga however, told Daily Monitor that if organisers Rhino Athletics Club do not style up, next year's tourney could attract only local teams.

SHAMBOLIC: USIU's Abel Nso shields the ball against Knight Riders in the Abe Linc tournament at YMCA Wandegeya. The tournament was organised very shoddily. Photo by Eddie Chicco

"This is the worst Abe Linc we have ever participated in. I can't imagine semis and finals being played on a running time basis," said Mayenga.
ISUI, who came in as defending champions lost in the semis to losing finalists Sadolin Power.
Other teams that represented Kenya are ICC, Barclays (men), Lake Side and Harleys (women).

Sprite Storms, Stomers, KCB Lions, Warriors (Kenya), Rwanda's APR and Uganda's giant sides including Falcons, Marines, Lady Bucks, KCC Leopards all skipped the tournament.

On court

Kenyan sides had a nightmare with USIU and Harleys (women) losing at the semi-final stage. Losing finalists Nabumali Old Girls beat Harleys.

The final clash between Nabumali and Makerere Sparks, which the latter won 27-25, was interesting, only that it was played in running time.
Olivia Mulwana's last two free throws with just 15 seconds left decided the game. Warriors were outstanding and thwarted Power's late comeback, winning 51-48. Hosts Rhino didn't make semis while their female counterparts Amazon also fell short despite upsetting A-1 Challenge in preliminaries.

Power blackout

Earlier in the day fans at YMCA Wandegeya had endured a two-hour action-less spell and no one came out to explain what the problem was.
Later the juniors' final between Crane High School and Tornadoes was interrupted twice while the women had to take a long break due to power failure. YMCA has an installed automatic generator but the organisers only remembered to connect the floodlights shortly after power had gone off-and this took about an hour.
Screening the Chelsea-Arsenal match at the venue was a good innovation but power failure ensured that fans watched only 38 minutes of first half-and they never stopped cursing.

Local clubs blamed

"Ugandan teams always want to win tournaments and that's why they end up fielding good players from other clubs, something unheard of in Kenya and elsewhere. This however contravenes FIBA rules bearing in mind that this is an international tournament," fumed Mayenga.
Federation of Uganda Basketball Associations (FUBA) technical committee chairman Yunus Nkutu also noted they informed organisers last year that such is illegal and totally unacceptable and must change.

Players and clubs at large seem to participate in the tournament for fun and Mayenga believes that it's the reason foreign clubs are slowly but surely shunning it.

The awards
Deservedly Mulwana was voted the ladies MVP but many argued Ronnie Kasewu should have beaten Stephen Okias to the men's accolade.

There were no awards for top scorers and besides the prize giving ceremony took place past midnight when most people had left and the ones present were exhausted and dosing-off.

Lack of sponsors made this year's tournament one of the dullest in the recent past but good planning could have made it better.

A Rwandan,- South African based professional basketballer has cautioned home players to apply an ambitious approach to the game. Raoul Mballa is in the country to beef up the Rwandan National Basketball team ahead of the Zone V Championships scheduled for mid-January 2007.
Mballa turns up for Pretoria Heats, one of the leading basketball clubs in South Africa.
He joined the paid ranks three years ago, achieving the accolade of the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of this year, according to sources at the Rwandan Basketball Federation.
The 27-year old, called upon home based basketballers to have a vision of taking their career beyond Rwanda.
Rwanda has a lot of potential in basketball but the players are not ambitious.
“I have heard from almost all of them, but all they say is that they want to play so well so that they are either retained by APR or get onto the APR team,” revealed Mballa.
He added; “I think, it’s high time, the players started looking at playing in more competitive leagues abroad. That’s the best way to improve on their game. They need to leave their comfort zones and go and play with better players.”
Mballa also observed that players here only train when there is a big tournament and in the presence of their coach.
“One NBA coach said that if you want a skill to remain as personal, you have to do it over 15,000 times. This simply means that the minimal practice time for an ambitious basketballer should be two hours daily,” he hinted.
Mballa turned out as Rwanda’s best player during the national basketball team’s tour of Nairobi in October.

THE basketball season came to an end Sunday evening with Saints eclipsing Juba Link 56-29 in the finals of the three-aside tournament played at Victory Christian Church, Ntinda.

The three-aside tourney brings together players from different clubs as they combine to form several teams. Sadolin Power's Richard Balemwa, Simon Otine, Martin Okello and Pascal Alule (Livingstone) made up the Saints team.Balemwa sunk in a game-high 25 points, Otine 10 and Okello 9. Charles Babumba, who turns out for KCC Lions in the league was the only Juba Link player in double-figures with 15 points.Saints bagged Shs100,000 for their efforts while losing finalists Juba Link pocketed Shs50,000.The event attracted 20 men's teams but no ladies took part.

Meanwhile the Federation of Uganda Basketball Associations (FUBA) assembly has been postponed to from this month (December) to next month (January).

"The executive is yet to meet to set a date for the assembly. This is a festive season and the meeting will most probably be next month," said Elliot Bagenda the FUBA general secretary.

THE Egyptian national basketball team is the latest entrant in the East, Central and Southern Africa Senior Challenge Cup.
The Zone Five event is programmed for February 25-March 3, 2007 in Kigali, Rwanda.Egypt, making a first appearance, will be welcomed to the regional event with what should be an easy fixture against underdogs Zanzibar.

Following the Egyptian U-20 national team's remarkable display during the ANOCA Games in Nairobi, Kenya, the seniors team members claim they have been inspired to prepare for the Challenge Cup.

Egypt, who maintained a clean sheet, emerged winners of the U-20 ANOCA basketball competition. They defeated Rwanda 87-62 at the final, a feat their senior team also hopes to achieve during the Senior Challenge Cup. Uganda are the defending champions.

Warriors and MUK Sparks won the 14 th Edition of the Abraham Lincoln basketball tournament, claiming the titles that have for the last five years been dominated by Kenyan teams. It was the first time since 2000 that a Ugandan team was winning the event. Warriors claimed the men's title after defeating Sadolin Power 51-48 at the YMCA court. Warriors not only claimed their first-ever Abe Lincoln title, but also finished the tournament undefeated. Most Valuable Player (MVP) Stephen Okias scored 13 of his 26 points in the third quarter as the Warriors rallied from a 3-point halftime deficit for a title victory over Power. Power let the game slip away in the last couple of minutes, when Warriors deployed three successive fast breaks to claim a six-point lead. Isaac Afidra scored 15 points with team-mates Ken Balyejusa and Norman Blick adding a combined 21 points for Power who were condemned to second place for the second successive year.

The women's final saw Olivia Mulwana convert both shots from the free-throw line with 15 secinds remaining to give MUK-Sparks a 27-25 victory over Nabumali.
Sparks trailed by five points before outscoring Nabumali 8-3 to even the score in the final minutes of the game before eventual women's MVP Mulwana scored the decisive free throws for victory.

Last year's winners -USIU Tigers from Kenya were eliminated in the semis 60-66 by Sadolin Power, while womens defending champions-Predators also from Kenya didnt show up to defend their title.

Other results:
The tournament produced several upsets with 2005 MTN Basketball League women champions A-1 Challenge being the first causalities, when lesser-fancied Amazon Rhino tripped them 33-35. A-1 Challenge players reacted as if they had lost a final. Following the trend closely was Nabumali, who trounced 2003 women champions Makerere Sparks 38-24, producing the second upset. Carol Nantalo and Carthy Atyang ( Sparks players in the league) chose to play for their former high school team and outclassed the university side. In the men's division, Kyambogo Warriors beat defending champions United States International University (USIU) of Kenya 56-45.

Selected Results (men)
USIU 54 Bistons 19
USIU 36 Riders 29
Power 44 Barclays 20
Warriors 56 USIU 45
Selected Results (Women)
Harleys 33 Flames 32
Nabumali 38 Sparks 24
Amazon 35 Challenge 33
Challenge 38 USIU F'es 18

Men's MVP: Stephen Okias-Warriors
Women's MVP: Olivia Mulwana- MUK Sparks

National Classic basketball league champions Telkom Kenya survived an early scare before beating East Africa schools champions Mombasa High School 51-41 to lift the Jamhuri Cup national basketball tournament at the KPA Hall Makande, Mombasa on Saturday.

Telkom, still fresh from beating KPA to reclaim the national women's crown after three years, almost paid the price for complacency when the schoolgirls, playing for the first time since the East Africa school games in Tanzania, scored six quick points through Irene Wanyama before Brenda Wasuda and Purity Adhiambo added four more for a 10-0 lead.But Joyce Makhungu, Carolyne Majeng Achieng, Eunice Ouma and Rebecca Serange stepped up the pace to reduce the score to 12-09 at the end of the first quarter.
The school girls, playing without star centre Beatrice Awino, who is in the US on a five-year basketball scholarship, continued to give Telkom difficult moments, Diana Sarah and speedy Everlyne Adhiambo coming into the picture strongly as they led 21-19 at the break.
Sensing danger, Telkom came to the second half forcefully, controlling the third and fourth quarters where they outscored the students 14-06, and 16-08 to win the game.
Wanyama top scored for Mombasa with 14 points while Brenda Wasuda, Fatma Mohammed and Diana Sarah scored eight, four and two points respectively.Makhungu was Telkom's top scorer with 20 points while Rebecca Serange and Eunice Ouma scored 14 and eight points respectively.

In matches played earlier, Telkom had beaten Strathmore University 33-25 while Mombasa High beat university students 40-17 in the tournament tha attracted only three women's teams.

Strathmore University beat Telkom Kenya 67-39 to lift the men's category title.In other matches, Strathmore University beat Mombasa Baptist 45-42 and went ahead to be Kenya Airports Authority 56-41. Mombasa Baptist beat KAA 44-23 to finish third in this tournament.

Even without winning the FIBA African Champions Cup title, Proprietor, Dodan Warriors and chief host of the continent's biggest club competition, Col. Sam Ahmedu (Rtd), said the club has blazed the trail in the history of basketball in the country.

In a chat with Sports Champion on the first class performance of the nation's campaigner at the annual continent's basketball event, Ahmedu said irrespective of the team's position, the club has raised the nation's profile among basketball playing nations in the continent."Dodan Warriors have scored another first. The first club side in Nigeria to host the FIBA African Champions Cup for men. Nigeria may have hosted the FIBA Nations Cup, but not the African Cup Championship here in Nigeria," he said.

"We have succeeded in raising the nation's profile as a basketball playing nation. No generation will overlook the name of Dodan Warriors any day, anytime the history of basketball is recounted. What we have done is a big plus to Nigeria."

He added: "Firstly, I am happy that we succeeded in providing all the teams a level playing field to compete. Warriors are one of the teams that have shown that they are capable of lifting the trophy in the future."Every team that participated at the championship have equal opportunity to win, but the eventual champions, Petro Atletico of Angola are experienced and better side during the championship. What I'm happy for is that we're not disgraced," he said.

Dodan Warriors grabbed the third spot at the 2006 FIBA Africa Champions Cup.

The Warriors took a see-saw game against surprised semi-finalist Inter Club basketball club of Congo Brazzaville that saw the two sides exchanging leads until the Warriors finally took the game 75-66 of (23-14, 16-20, 20-19 and 16-13).

There is uncertainty over the dunk-off date for the 2006/2007 Basketball Premier League season.

An uneasy calm has enveloped the basketball circle, as players, coaches and club officials have expressed fear that the lull that ruled the Nigerian domestic league in the three seasons may resurface.According to some of the players who spoke with Sports Champion, the delay in the league dunk-off date has affected the morale of the players, who further argued that the ripple effect of the delay in commencement date is the performance of the country's representatives in international championships.

"We had hoped that the tempo of the last season would have snow ball immediately into the new season, but as it is now the players have over rested their nerves and not even sure of when the league will begin," some of the players said.

They further argued that a true champion may not emerge eventually emerge at the end of the coming season, adding that the enthusiasm of the players has been at the low ebb since the close of the last season.

In his reaction to the lull in the basketball circle, Ebun Comets point guard, Baba Jubril condemned the delay, declaring that the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) is like a beggar that has no choice."There is nothing the federation can do, when who pays the pipers dictate its tune. If the sponsor is ready to bring the money, the federation will call the clubs for registration" he said.

Meanwhile, investigation revealed that the delay in kick starting the league is connected with the recent change of guard between the sole title sponsor of the league, Vmobile and Celtel Nigeria.

There are speculations that the new management of the title holder is insensitive to sports sponsorship, especially the game of basketball and have ordered the review of the contract with the Nigeria Basketball Federation.

THE National University Sports Federation of Uganda (NUSFU) will host this year's edition of the East Africa University Games that get underway December 18. Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) had been entrusted the duty to host the games but showed unwillingness at the last minute, which caused panic to member universities.

"Our colleagues in Kigali said they had no enough accommodation for participants. We (NUSFU) had to meet and agree on hosting the games because other members were not ready," organising committee secretary Patrick Ssebuliba told journalists at a press conference.
Makerere University and Kenyatta University which hosted the 2004 edition will not take part in this year's edition. Makerere is closed and four public universities in Kenya including Kenyatta are also closed. This will be the second time Uganda is hosting the regional games. The first was in 2001. Kyambogo University will host the opening ceremony.
"We expect teams to report at the secretariat (Lugogo) on Dec 17 before we allocate them their residence venues of MUBS, KIU and Kyambogo," said Ssebuliba.

The EAUG Basketball defending champions are the United States International University-USIU basketball Teams, Tigers (men) and Flames (ladies). The USIU teams won the titles in 2004 in Kenya; Tigers overcame University of Nairobi Terrorists 67-58, while Flames edged out Rwanda 's Kigali Institute of Science and Technology KIST who were the defending Champions 57-49 and will be going all out to defend the titles.

KYAMBOGO Warriors beat Sadolin Power 51-48 Sunday night at the YMCA Courts in Wandegeya to emerge champions of the 14th edition of the Abraham Lincoln basketball tournament.

Eventual tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP) Stephen Okias, Joshua Etalu and Ronnie Kasewu combined for 37 points to help Warriors end the year in style.
It's the first time since 2000 that a Ugandan side is winning the tournament. Falcons were the champions in 2000 but skipped this year's edition.
Power's Ken Balyejusa garnered 17 points, Isaac Afidra 11 and Simon Ndawula 9 in the game that ended past midnight. Power had earlier in the day defeated defending champions Kenya's United States International University (USIU) in the semi-finals but could not transform their winning formula to the final.In the women's final, Makerere University Sparks' Olivia Mulwana (MVP) showed composure as she converted two free throws with just 15 seconds to play for her side to gain revenge over Nabumali High School Old Girls team 27-25.

Nabumali had beaten Sparks 38-24 in the preliminaries.

Mulwana gathered 11 points and Vicky Nassolo picked up 6 of her own.

Men
Warriors 51 Power 48

Women
Sparks 27 Nabumali 25

WARRIORS claimed the Abraham Lincoln basketball title after defeating Sadolin Power 51-48 Sunday at the YMCA court.

Warriors not only claimed their first-ever Abe Lincoln title, but also finished the tournament undefeated.

Most Valuable Player (MVP) Stephen Okias scored 13 of his 26 points in the third quarter as the Warriors rallied from a 3-point halftime deficit for a title victory over Power.
Power let the game slip away in the last couple of minutes, when Warriors deployed three successive fast breaks to claim a six-point lead.
Isaac Afidra scored 15 points with team-mates Ken Balyejusa and Norman Blick adding a combined 21 points for Power who were condemned to second place for the second successive year.
The women’s final saw Olivia Mulwana convert both shots from the charity line as time expired to earn MUK-Sparks a 27-25 victory over Nabumali.
Sparks trailed by five points before outscoring Nabumali 8-3 to even the score in the final minutes of the game before eventual women’s MVP Mulwana scored the decisive free throws for victory.

By PATRICK CHIBUTA

ZIMBABWE 71:ZAMBIA 59
NOT even the roar of a home crowd could save the Zambian men's team that allowed Zimbabwe to inflict one of their worst defeats in recent years.

Not that Zambia lacked the players. If anything, the Zambian side had players who could take on any side in the sub region - save for African champions Angola perhaps - and come out on top.

What the Zambian side lacked was a game plan and the Zimbabweans had the sense to take advantage and become overall winners of the two-day international tournament that also featured Botswana.

The women's version had four teams - Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Lupopo, a club side from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Zambian coach Brian Nsama started with Sizi Kuntepa as point guard, Mulenga Mumba, Malindi Chipili, Webby Sikuka and Boniface Kabongo.
The Zimbabweans had Allen Tekunde, Royce Takaendesa, Tafirenyika Muchende, Eric Banda and Farai Towirare.
Zimbabwe had a 20-12 lead in the first quarter and a strong second quarter showing saw them take a 44-28 lead.
Although Zambia tried to make amends in the third period, they found the going tough as Zimbabwe played a tight zone defence.
Zambia needed to use more shooting guards to open up the defence but the coaching bench opted to keep them on the team bench.

In the women's edition. Lupopo rounded up their weekend tour with a runaway 104-34 victory over Botswana, the tournament's whipping girls.

The Zimbabwe women's side finished second after seeing off Zambia via a 84-63 scoreline.

IT wasn’t a pretty sight at all. The Palais des Sports was turned into some kind of a war zone at the end of Saturday’s game two of the men’s Seychelles Basketball Federation (SBF) Cup best-of-three final series between PLS Hawks and Premium Cobras.
Once again, the actions of some unruly fans, likened to hooligans, in the stands eclipsed over the beautiful game.
Although Premium Cobras and HotShots swept the two finals, the final celebration was low key as it wasn’t the best way to bring the curtains down on the 2006 basketball season which had until then gone on in quite normal conditions.

Premium Cobras 79 … PLS Hawks 78

Winners of game one on a 75-68 score, Premium Cobras led 17-13 at the end of the first quarter but trailed PLS Hawks by five points – 38-43 – at half-time, as they were outscore 30-21.With Premium Cobras’ centre Lenny ‘Bad’ Aglaé giving Jim Domingue too much room to manoeuvre, the veteran power forward made his experience count in this period, coming off the bench to score two consecutive 3-pointers and two jumpers for eight straight points. In fact, he got 14 of his 22 points in the second quarter.

Nigel Annette gave PLS Hawks the lead for the first time in the match after completing a three-point play (37-35) with 1 minute 39 seconds (1:39) left on the clock in the second period.

With their quick-tempo game doing the trick for them, PLS Hawks went to go-to-guy Stephen Omony in the third 10-minute spell during which he made the most of a mis-match when defended by Christopher Camille. The Ugandan all-rounder scored 14 points in a row to help PLS Hawks open an 11-point gap after 30 minutes of play.

Starring a big deficit, Premium Cobras decided to fight back and coach Guy Hall switched Nigerian power forward Reuben Kolawole to man-mark Omony in an attempt to shut him down.

On ‘Bad’s long trey with 4:03 left to play, Premium Cobras came to within a point (70-71) of equalising.

The lead then changed hands from time to time and on an Abdallah ‘Dulla’ Ramadhan drive with 1:14 left, the scoreboard read 77-75 in favour of Premium Cobras.

After Barry Baron made one of two free-throws and Domingue connected on both attempts from the stripe after coach Hall was hit with a technical foul for leaving his designated zone, PLS Hawks led 78-77 and had possession with 14 seconds left to play.

Instead of running down the clock, Omony, who finished as the game’s top scorer with 28 points, made an uncharacteristic error, throwing a long pass towards Neddy Fanchette and Tony ‘Siro” Moustache, the smallest player on the court, cut it to release ‘Dulla’ who scored the winning basket for his ninth consecutive point in the fourth quarter and a total of 22 points. He finished as the best scorer for Premium Cobras who ended the season 7-0 against PLS Hawks in this year’s head-to-head record.

As Premium Cobras started celebrating their League and Cup double success – their fourth in nine years after achieving the feat in 1998, 1999 and 2004 – spectators started throwing bottles and pelted those on the court with small broken stones (makadanm), while the police officers present at the venue stood and did nothing.

PLS Hawks players also reported that looters had entered their changing room, stealing money and other valuables, while the windscreen of a car parked outside the venue was badly damaged.

With his game-high 28 points going up in flame after the defeat, Omony said: “I was aware of the time left but not that we were leading. Otherwise, I would not have thrown this long pass.”

As for Hall, who won his first title as a coach after replacing Jude Talma at the helm, he said:
“Victory for Premium Cobras was in God’s hands after I was hit with the technical foul. I dedicate this victory to the living God and I promise all the fans that we will do it all over again next year. Our good physical conditioning and defence won us the day today (Saturday).”

HotShots 48 … Mont Fleuri 31

The women’s game failed to live up to expectation, but HotShots did just enough to take game two to close the series against Mont Fleuri who lost Tracey Moustache early in the second quarter with a leg injury, and celebrate their first ever SBF Cup win.Once again, coach Philip Arrisol went to his one-two punch of centre Tina Agathine (13 points) and power forward Myra Solin (12 points) for scoring and they combined for 25 points. Jenita Tousaint was the only HotShots player in double figures with 11 points.

Although they dominated all four quarters 7-4, 16-9, 12-9 and 13-9, HotShots were not happy with their performance and skipper Agathine told Sports Nation that “we are the champions although we did not play well. There’s a great feeling within the team after wining the SBF Cup for the first time in our history. After missing Myra (Solin) in the league, we were able to put up a good challenge to eliminate last year’s champions (Anse Etoile Stars) in the SBF Cup. We are very happy with what we’ve accomplished this year.”

Results (men)
USIU 54 Bistons 19
USIU 36 Riders 29
Power 44 Barclays 20
Warriors 56 USIU 45
Women
Harleys 33 Flames 32
Nabumali 38 Sparks 24
Amazon 35 Challenge 33
Challenge 38 USIU F’es 18

THE 14th Abraham Lincoln tournament has already produced several upsets. In the event played on running time, 2005 MTN Basketball League women champions A-1 Challenge were the first to fall when lesser-fancied Amazon Rhino tripped them 33-35. A-1 Challenge players reacted as if they had lost a final.

Nabumali, who trounced 2003 women champions Makerere Sparks 38-24, produced the second upset. Carol Nantalo and Carthy Atyang (Sparks players in the league) chose to play for their former high school team and outclassed the university side.

Kyambogo Warriors beat defending champions United States International University (ISIU) of Kenya 56-45, an indication that a Ugandan team can at last win the trophy.

Coach Thomas Smatts Olumbo, Head Coach Telkom Kenya (Ladies) and Co-operative Bank (Men’s) basketball teams has proved that he’s the ultimate basketball coach in the country, following his turning around of teams in recent years. The captivating, soft-spoken but authoritative and strict coach has managed to turn around Telkom’s fortunes following a disastrous 2004 season which they finished 6th overall in women’s premier league, guiding them all the way to the 2006 league Championship, dethroning Kenya Ports Authority-KPA who had won 4-years in a row. To add, Olumbo has also managed to do the same to former four time champions Co-operative Bank, and despite falling short of a championship, they have been in the last two League Finals (2005-2006) where they were eliminated by reigning champions Ulinzi Warriors. Olumbo is also the Head coach of the women's National team, whose success over the last decade has always made the basketball fraternity and the country proud.

Coach Thomas Smatts Olumbo’s Profile:

Current:
Head Coach: Telkom Kenya in the Women's Premier League
Head Coach: Co-operative Bank in the Men's Premier League
Head Coach: Kenya Women's National Team
Head Coach: Nairobi City Combined Team

Coaching Profile:
1991-1995: Head Coach –Barclays Eaglets (women)
1992-1996: Assistant Coach Kenya Posts and Telecommunications KPTC (men)
1997-1999: Head Coach Co-operative Bank (men)
2000-2002: Head Coach Barclays Eagles (men)
1999- To Date: Head Coach Telkom Kenya (women)
2005- To Date: Head Coach Co-operative Bank (men)

International Engagements:
1995: National Team at Feminine Zone Five qualifying Championships (Egypt)
1997: Co-operative Bank at East, Central and Southern Africa Club Championships (Uganda)
1997: National Team at Feminine Championships (Nairobi Kenya)
1998: Co-operative Bank at East, Central and Southern Africa Club Championships (Tanzania)
1998: Co-operative Bank at Africa Club Championships (Egypt)
1999: Co-operative Bank at East, Central and Southern Africa Club Championships (Zambia)
1999: Co-operative Bank at Africa Club Championships (Nairobi Kenya)
2000: National Team at East, Central and Southern Africa National Championships (Seychelles)
2001: Telkom Kenya at Africa Club championships (Mozambique)
2001: National Team at East, Central and Southern Africa National Championships (Tanzania)
2002: National Team at East, Central and Southern Africa National Championships (Uganda)
2003: National Team at Zone Five Qualifying Championships (Nairobi Kenya)
2003: National Team at All Africa Games (Abuja Nigeria)
2005: National Team at East, Central and Southern Africa National Championships (Kampala Uganda)
2006: Co-operative Bank at East, Central and Southern Africa Club Championships (Nairobi Kenya)
2006: Nairobi Team: Champions Inter-Cities Championships (Kampala Uganda)



Achievements:
1990: Player Kenya Posts and Tele Communications KP&TC: Premier League Champions
1992: Assistant coach KP&TC Premier League Champions
1993: Assistant Coach KP&TC : Premier League Champions
1994: Assistant Coach KP&TC: Premier League Champions
1997: Head Coach Co-op Bank: Premier League Champions
1997: Head Coach Co-op Bank: Champions East, Central and Southern Africa Club
1997: Assistant Coach National Team: 4th position Feminine championships
1998: Head Coach Co-op Bank: Premier League Champions
1998: Head Coach Co-op Bank: Champions East, Central and Southern Africa Club Championships
1999: Head Coach Co-op Bank: Runners-up East, Central and Southern Africa Club Championships
2000: Head Coach Telkom Kenya: Premier League Champions
2000: Head Coach National Team: Champions East, Central and Southern Africa Championships
2001: Head Coach Telkom Kenya: Premier League Champions
2002: Head Coach Telkom Kenya: Runners-up Premier League
2002: Head Coach National Team: Champions East, Central and Southern Africa Championships
2003: Head Coach Telkom Kenya: Runner-up Premier League
2003: Head Coach National Team: 4th Position All Africa Games
2005: Head Coach Co-operative Bank: Runners-up Premier League
2006: Head Coach Co-operative Bank: Runners-up Premier League
2006: Head Coach Telkom Kenya: Champions Premier League

Results from International Ftriendly Tournament held in Lusak

Women
Zimbabwe 61-38 Botswana
Lupopo (DRC) 88-59 Zimbabwe
Lupopo (DRC) 104-34 Botswana
Lupopo (DRC) 61-42 Zambia
Zimbabwe 84-63 Zambia
Zambia 78-52 Botswana

Lupopo (DRC) win!

Men
Zimbabwe 93-58 Botswana
Zimbabwe 71-59 Zambia
Zambia 90-43 Botswana

Zimbabwe win!

Kitwe based Hetro Bullets Basketball team were, Sunday, crowned 2006 National champions after they beat Napsa Hurricanes of Lusaka 71-58.

The Four Nations Basketball championships kicked off in Lusaka, Friday with hosts Zambia Women national squad going down 61-42 to Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the opening match of the three day event.

The tournament being hosted at Lusaka's National Sports Development Centre has attracted four men and women national teams from hosts Zambia, Botswana, DRC and Zimbabwe.
In Saturday's first game, Zimbabwe beat Botswana 61-38 following a tight but explosive encounter.
Speaking after the match, Zimbabwe female captain Abigail Gondo said the game was tough although her team managed to win.
Gondo said the Tswanas have improved their Basketball skills in recent years coupled with a tremendous pace on counter attacks.
And ZAMBIA Basketball Association Vice president Major Richard Chilangwa said the tournament will help the technical staff gauge players ahead of an international event in February next year.

The last games, Sunday will see Zambian men and women facing their Zimbabwe counterparts while Botswana female squad will take on DRC.

IT’S now or never for PLS Hawks and Mont Fleuri as they try to avoid being swept in today’s game two of the men’s and women’s best-of-three Seychelles Basketball Federation (SBF) Cup final series.

HotShots and Premium Cobras have one hand on the trophies after taking game one a week ago and it remains to be seen if they can close in on the second-most-important trophy in local basketball. Although Premium Cobras and HotShots are just one game away from sweeping their series and hoisting the trophies to officially bring the curtain down on the 2006 basketball season, all will depend on how strong PLS Hawks and Mont Fleuri come out to play today.

HotShots out for a sweep
In their first final this year, HotShots used a 14-0 first quarter score to defeat Mont Fleuri 48-31 and they can lift their first ever SBF Cup with a game two win.

Hot Shots, who lead Mont Fleuri 3-1 so far this year in the head-to-head record, will once again rely on Beguitta Fontaine, who finished with a game-high 15 points including three treys in game one, and Jenita Toussaint for outside shooting, while strong forward Myra Solin and centre Tina Agathine will try to dominate the paint once again.
After seeing his team loosen their grip on the match in game one, coach Philip Arissol told Sports Nation that “we should not commit this same mistake in the second match as we want to close the series early.”
HotShots mean business then and it is up to Mont Fleuri to stop them from celebrating all the way to Anse Boileau.
Reached by phone, skipper Williana Dubois agreed that Mont Fleuri looked a shadow of their usual selves in the game one loss, but warned HotShots that game two won’t be easy.
“You will see a completely different Mont Fleuri in today’s match. We are determined to win and force a decisive third game,” said Dubois, who, at 39 years old, remains one of the best defenders in the game here.
Involved in their third final this year, Mont Fleuri badly want to win the SBF Cup to partly make up for the disappointment of losing the Curtain-raiser and Top-of-the-table finals to Anse Etoile Stars earlier in the season.
Mont Fleuri’s only previous SBF Cup triumph was in 2000.

Can Premium Cobras go 7-0 against PLS Hawks?


Winners of game-one on a 74-68 score, the cobras will answer this question on the court in today’s second match, but they know that they will be in for a rough ride against the hawks who would surely want to salvage some pride.This only way for PLS Hawks to stop the six-game losing skid against Premium Cobras is to rediscover their winning formula against their eternal rivals, whom they swept in two games in last year’s final when being under-strength to complete a League and Cup double.

Coach Tony Juliette is confident in his team’s ability and he knows that they can respond to the challenge.
“In game one, we adopted a rather slow approach in offence, but today, we will switch back to playing our quick-tempo basketball and at the same time we should remain concentrated in defence. It’s important for us to win today and to do so, we cannot put a foot wrong in either offence or defence. The decider will be on Sunday,” said Juliette, who will still be without playmaker Thomas Collie with a finger injury.
After coach Jude Talma guided them to reclaiming the Men’s division 1A League title, Premium Cobras expect Guy Hall, who replaced the latter at the helm, to deploy another winning strategy for a game two win to complete a League and Cup double.
Hall, who brings a lot of entertainment on the touchline with his continuous gesturing on each plays and basket scored, told Sports Nation that “we are going to prove our superiority and sweep the series as we don’t want to play again on Sunday.”
Present for game one when he brought with him a white pigeon, symbolising peace, Father Christmas is expected inside the Palais des Sports again today to deliver the gifts. It will be an early Christmas celebrations for the victors.

G. G.

By JULIUS MBARAGA
The National basketball team has uphill task ahead of the Zone V basketball Championships that are programmed for early next year in Kigali, Rwanda. Following the U-20 national team’s remarkable display in the just concluded ANOCA (Association of National Olympic Committee of Africa) games that were staged in Nairobi, Kenya, the seniors have a lot of prove.
The juniors arrived yesterday aboard a regional coach and were warmly welcomed by the National Basketball Federation (Ferwaba) after claiming a silver medal in the competitions after falling to Egypt (87-62) in the finals.
Not only will the national side encounter pressure from the fact that the juniors did a commendable job while in Kenya, but also because Rwanda will be hosting the competitions.
“It’s always a great advantage when you are hosting a given event because in most cases, you have all support from the home crowd and also are familiar with the conditions in your country. Therefore, there is no doubt that the locals expect a good performance from our two sides (men and women),” an official from Ferwaba noted.
In the Zone V competition, Rwanda will encounter opposition from Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti, Zanzibar, Sudan, Tanzania and late entrants, Egypt.
In the competition, Rwanda will field both men and women basketball teams.

Egypt’s U-20 basketball team defeated Rwanda 71-60 in an entertaining encounter to take gold in the just concluded Association of the National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) games. Hosts Kenya edged out Burundi 40-39 to take the third position. The inaugural games attracted teams from Egypt, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Uganda, Eritrea, Somalia and hosts Kenya, with teams participating in four disciplines; Basketball, Boxing, Athletics and Cycling. Egypt’s performance in basketball was expected, and their dominance follows closely in the footsteps of their senior team, which has dominated the game in the Africa Zone Five for more than two decades.
The ANOCA games patron, Kipchoge Keino; a veteran Kenyan athlete, and Chairman of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK), pointed out that “It was important to lay a solid foundation for the youth in Africa”. “When the Olympics and the All Africa Games come, these athletes will be ready to compete, and that’s why we insist on them starting their preparations early” said Keino.

Uganda's junior men's basketball team had a trip to forget, winning only one game against Eritrea (87-77).

They then lost to eventual champions Egypt 87- 49, Somalia 57-74 and Rwanda 65-86. Egypt, who did not lose a single game, beat Rwanda 87-62 in the final.

INTERNTIONAL FRIENDLY

VENUE: NATIONAL SPORTS DEVELOPMENT CENTRE – LUSAKA

In preparation for the Zone Six – All Africa Games and Senior Africa Cup qualifiers

PROGRAMME

FRIDAY 8 DECEMBER

18.00 hours Zambia Vs Lupopo Basketball Club (DRC) Women

SATURDAY 10 DECEMBER

10.00 hours Botswana Vs Zimbabwe Women

12.00 hours Zambia Vs Botswana Women

14.00 hours Lupopo BC Vs Zimbabwe Women

16.00 hours Zambia Vs Botswana Men

18.00 hours Zambia Vs Zimbabwe Women

SUNDAY 11 DECEMBER

11.00 hours Lupopo BC Vs Botswana Women

13.00 hours Zimbabwe Vs Botswana Men

15.00 hours Zambia Vs Zimbabwe Men

By JULIUS MBARAGA
Monday, 04 December 2006
Rwanda’s U-20 basketball team thrashed their Ugandan and Ethiopian counterparts to book a semi-final berth in the ongoing Association of National Olympic Committee of Africa (Anoca) Games in Nairobi, Kenya.
The youngsters beat Somalia 72-63 in their opening fixture, before maintaining their fine tune, registering 68-46 and 86-65 victories over Eritrea and Uganda respectively.
The victories ensured that Rwanda topped its group, to move on to the semi-final stage where they would be tested by hosts Kenya today.
Sources from the Rwanda camp in Nairobi indicated yesterday that the team was confident after their group- match superb performance. However, they also reckoned that it was not going to be easy to oust hosts Kenya.
“The Kenyans have a lot of support and one thing for sure is that it’s not going to be easy, but we shall do our best. We registered victories against other countries and we are confident we can do the same against Kenya,” added the source.
Victory over Kenya will automatically count Rwanda into the finals that are slated for later today.

Egypt’s M. Mostage (left) and Burundi’s Higwa Blaise in action during the Anoca Games basketball tie on Monday. Egypt won 90-45.

By Dann O’were

Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) has told off KCB Lions, saying they had nothing to do with their disastrous showing in the African Masculine Club championships in ihemi challenged the coaches to explain why a player like Lewis Muya was dropped if they were serious with their preparations.
"Did you see the way they played against United States International University on Saturday?" asked Shihemi,.
"Was that a team that was prepared for a tournament of that magnitude?" Lions lost 57-60.
He said KCB were in charge of their own training programme and thus KBF would not come in since it was not a national team assignment.
"If it was the national side, we would come in and advice. But this is a club with its own policies. How would we come in unless we were consulted?" he asked.
He asked KCB coaches to attend many clinics if they were to improve the performance of their team in future instead of apportioning blame elsewhere.
Lions were placed last in 12-team championships, winning only one of their eight matches.

Francistown Flames

Harare Basketball Association, results from week 6.

Men First Division
Maxifix Pross - 42 JBC- 49
Kingdom Cavaliers- 68 Raiderz -59
Mbare Bulls - 43 Londoner Hawks - 45
Stomers -61 Gentlemens Association - 35
South Central - 46 Londoner Hawks - 53
U Z Stars - 32 Maxifix Pross - 47
Faith Wear Jammers- 63 Varsity Leopards - 72

Basketball side Francistown Flames in partnership with the Kings Foundation held a three-day clinic at Mater Spei College for school coaches this week. Flames' coach and Kings Foundation Botswana director, Matt Leowen, told Mmegi Sport that one of the problems facing the growth of the sport is lack of knowledge of basic rules and fundamentals of the game. Kings Foundation is a United Kingdom based Christian organisation meant to develop children through sport.

Leowen, who came to Botswana in 2002 as Kings Foundation representative, said they offered the free coaching clinic in an attempt to educate coaches and promote basketball in Francistown. Fourteen coaches from junior secondary and a few from primary schools with basketball facilities attended the clinic. The clinic was supported by the Botswana Integrated Sports Association (BISA). Leowen pointed out that they could not accommodate a large number of participants due to limited resources.

"Sport in general is a great way to keep young people active and healthy and basketball is the fastest growing sport in Africa," he said. He added that Flames want to see more schools' basketball tournaments next year in the north. He lamented that the level of participation in basketball in the region is very low. He said that by next year, they want to see more young people joining the game in large numbers.

Kings Foundation will attract youngsters to the game by using more coaches to spread the message in schools. "My team players are very excited about the issue and they are planning to host camps for aspiring players during the December holidays," said Leowen.He was positive that with support from parents and sponsors, the future of basketball is bright. He said that there is talent and potential among young locals and they just need guidance to realise the importance of sports in life.

Former Splinters' coach and now Flames senior technical advisor, David Sechombo, said the coaching clinic is meant to try and make people aware of all basketball aspects including the terminology.

He feels that before a person engages in a particular sport, he or she has to appreciate everything about it. "If you are a basketball player or coach, you remain behind if you do not attend workshops of this nature," said the basketball veteran.

HOTSHOTS and Premium Cobras are just one match away from hoisting the trophies of the 2006 edition of the Seychelles Basketball Federation (SBF) Cup.

Winners on Saturday of game one of the women’s and men’s best-of-three final series, HotShots (48-31 against Mont Fleuri) and Premium Cobras (74-68 against PLS Hawks), can wrap up the titles by winning game two.
It remains to be seen if Mont Fleuri and PLS Hawks’ Omony drives past Premium Cobras’ BadPLS Hawks can stay alive and force a decisive third match. Will it happen? The answer will be known this coming Saturday. Both Mont Fleuri and PLS Hawks have said that they can and will win the next encounters to pull even.

Among the fans at the Palais des Sports were Denis Rose, principal secretary for the Arts, Culture and Sports, and Father Christmas who carried with him a white pigeon, symbolising peace.

Fontaine leads HotShots

Guilty of some easy misses and not benefiting from friendly rebounds early in the match, Mont Fleuri were outscored 14-0 by a more composed and confident HotShots in the first quarter and when they decided to adopt a man-to-man marking strategy, they got their first two points through Bernadette Songor with just under a minute played in the second quarter.

With top scorer Beguitta Fontaine, who finished with 15 points, netting two of her three treys in the second 10-minute spell, HotShots’ Fontaine drives to the basket and is fouled by Mont Fleuri’s Marline IsidoreHotShots scored another 14 points to go for the breather with a comfortable 22-point advantage (28-6).

Although Mont Fleuri, who swept last year’s losing finalists Bel Air in the semifinals, tried to rescue the match by concentrating a lot on offence to outscore HotShots 12-4 at the end of the third quarter, they could not distance themselves from their opponents as they tied 13-13 after the fourth despite veteran skipper Williana Dubois scoring two consecutive 3-pointers late in the match.

Myra Solin was the other HotShots player in double figures with 12 points, while Bernadette Songor, who finished with the same total, was the top scorer for Mont Fleuri who had trouble stopping HotShots’ centre and captain Tina Agathine from dominating both the offensive and defensive boards.

“My team played a good first half but with a healthy lead at half-time, they lost the intensity in the second, probably thinking they had sewn up the game. We should not commit this same mistake in the second match as we want to close the series early,” HotShots’ coach Philip Arissol told Sports Nation.

As for Mont Fleuri’s skipper Dubois, she said that “we played poorly today (Saturday) and we have to win game two.”

Premium Cobras go 6-0 against PLS Hawks


With their three main scorers – Tanzanian Adballah ‘Dulla’ Ramadhan, James Beier and Lenny ‘Bad’ Aglaé – in foul trouble early in the fourth quarter, Premium Cobras used a 12-8 run in an eight-minute spell to put the game away and win game one 75-68 against PLS Hawks.In fact, Premium Cobras, who are Premium Cobras’ Dulla performs a two-hand slamunbeaten in six matches against PLS Hawks this year, won the first and fourth quarters 28-20 and 15-12 respectively, but were tied 12-12 in the third and lost the second 20-24.

Despite fouling out with 2 minutes 23 seconds (2:23) left on the clock in the final period, ‘Bad’, who controlled the defensive board bringing down some huge rebounds, top-scored for Premium Cobras with 16 points, while both ‘Dulla’ and Danny Bertin made 15-point contributions. Nigerian Reuben Kolawole and Beier added 10 points apiece.

With Rodney Lozé unable to score in the first half after getting 11 points in the first period coming off the substitutes’ bench, PLS Hawks relied on Ugandan Stephen Omony for scoring and he finished with a game-leading 29 points, 11 of which came in the second quarter alone. Omony twice gave PLS Hawks the lead in the second quarter at 41-40 when he rebounded his own miss to score with 2:32 left on the clock and at 43-42 less than a minute later.

Veteran skipper and power forward Jim Domingue added 11 points for PLS Hawks, who achieved a League and Cup double last season but need to win the SBF Cup to salvage their season after losing the Men’s division 1A League championship title to Premium Cobras this year.

Both teams are expected to welcome back key players in the second game – playmaker Thomas Collie for PLS Hawks and forward Dominic Pillay for Premium Cobras – after sitting out game one with bruised fingers.

Speaking to Sports Nation, Premium Cobras team president Roy Collie said that “it wasn’t a beautiful match as we knew that PLS Hawks were not going to take things lightly as they were 5-0 down. Going up 6-0 is good and we want to make it 7-0. But it won’t be easy. We will be all out to win the final in two matches.”

For PLS Hawks’ coach Tony Juliette, who got some tips from former assistant coach Clifford Joubert in the stands, he explained that Lozé did not deliver in attack.

“Omony did what he had to do, but Lozé remained quiet in the second half. We have to step up our play to win game two,” he said.

The presentation for the 2006 season award winners was held on Saturday at the Nyayo gymnasium. Simon Mugambi (R)of Ulinzi won the Mens MVP award, with Joyce Makhungu winning the women’s MVP award. Coaches Mike Mureithi of Java Warriors and Anthony Ojukwu of KPA went home with the Coach of The Year Awards

Women’s Premier

Winners: Telkom Kenya
Runners UP: Kenya Ports Authority-KPA
Third Position: Sprite Storms
Fourth Position: YANA Milele

MVP: Game3- Joyce Makhungu (Telkom)
MVP: Game2- Caroline Achieng (Telkom)
MVP: Game1- Gladys Wanyama (KPA)

Men’s Premier

Winners: Ulinzi Warriors (5th Championship in a row)
Runners UP: Co-operative Bank
Third Position: USIU Tigers
Fourth Position: KCB Lions

MVP: Game2- Simon Mugambi (Ulinzi)
MVP: Game1- Peter Kiganya (Co-operative Bank)

Division One League:



Coach Of the Year
Division One: Mike Mureithi- Java Warrioirs
Premier League: Anthony Ojukwu- KPA



UCBL 2006 AWARDS

Ladies

* Winners: Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture Technology- JKUAT Lynx
* 1 st Runners Up: KCITI Ladycats
* 2 nd Runners UP: USIU Flames
* 3 rd Runner Up: Strathmore University
* Most Valuable player MVP: Emma Nyakweya JKUAT Lynx
* Fair Play Award: Africa Nazarene University ANU
* Most Dependable Player: Brenda Angeshi KCITI Ladycats
* Most Improved Player: Brenda Amayo Strathmore University
* 3-pointer competition winner: Brenda Odula USIU Flames

Men

* Winners: Kenyatta University Pirates
* 1 st Runners Up: KCITI Wildcats
* 2 nd Runners Up: USIU Tigers
* 3 rd Runners Up: Strathmore University Blades
* Most Valuable player: Griffin Ligare Kenyatta University Pirates
* Fair Play Award: Kenya College of Accountancy KCA
* Most Dependable Player: Martin Okwako KCITI Wildcats
* Most Improved Player: Richard Sinda Kenya College of Accountancy KCA
* 3-pointer competition winner: Alex Wright USIU Tigers
* Dunking Competition: Paul Ojuoga Kenyatta University Pirates
* Coach of The Year: Charles Goro JKUAT Lynx
* Referee of the Year: Oscar Ayomi

Uganda 88 Eritrea 77

In basketball, Uganda recovered from a poor start to edge out Eritrea 88-77 and put their title campaign on track.

Eritrea, will have themselves to blame having been first to settle into the game. They claimed an early lead. However, their defence relaxed and allowed Uganda to comeback and see them end the first quarter at 23-21.

Tom Ochamuringa, Uganda's coach made a few substitutions and went on the counter to score 22 points to take their tally to 43 against Eritrea's 38 at the end of the first half.

Eritrea resorted to a more physical approach as their coach Negusse Habiemariam urged them on. Uganda scored 16 points while Eritrea added 22.

Francis Tumusiime's14 points, Solomon Ssali (15) and Chicho Mutaryega (12) were the top scorers for Uganda while Michael Ghezeley (16), Joel Petros (38) and Ared Efrem (15) answered for Eritrea.

Somalia 63 Rwanda 72

Rwanda started their campaign well beating Somalia 72-63 in a tough Pool "B" basketball challenge. Fiston Muhire drew first blood scoring two points as Eritrea rushed to an 18-11 lead at the end of the first quarter. However, Somalia whose team has players from America, England, Canada and Mogadishu made a comeback and claimed a five point lead at the end of the first half, piling more pressure on Rwanda.

On resumption, Basgir Musee, Mohammed Khalif and Ibrahim Ali were on target for Somalia but their efforts were cancelled by Bertrand Muhire and Gispin Gishoma.

Ethiopia 28 Burundi 73

Ethiopia found the going tough as they were trounced by Burundi 73-28. Trained by Yetugeta Negussie, Ethiopia got the first two points but were forced to the defensive as Burundi upped their game to claim a deserved 16-9 lead after the first quarter.

By Dann O’were

The kind of basketball played in Kenya must change with time, or it will never improve at all.

These sentiments were expressed by Kenya Commercial Bank Lions tacticians Francis Ngunjiri and his assistant Emmanuel Ochieng.
They were reacting to the poor performance of their team in the recent Africa Masculine Club championships held in Lagos, Nigeria.
"Kenyan players lacked the physical appeal, they like to dribble too much and often tire out fast," said the tacticians who talked to SportFest on Saturday.
"There is no shot cut to success, our players must go to the gymnasium, carry weights and play the physical game. That is the only was to improve the standards of basketball in the country," said Ngunjiri.
He said for the game to grow and be compared with the rest of Africa, Kenya must develop a programme on how to improve the administration, coaching, refereeing and training of players.
"The programme is working well in Angola, Nigeria and other countries with whom we discussed, like Congo. They told us if we could have this in place, then we could compete with the rest on the continent," noted Ngunjiri.
They concurred that Kenya Basketball Federation must do something about the refereeing "because this is one aspect of the game that has let us down badly.
"We were surprised that things like three seconds that are so often the order of the day here do not get called by refs out there," observed Ochieng.

THE four basketball clubs, which had qualified for Kili RBA league will battle it out today at the National Indoor Stadium in their first semi final matches.

In the first semi final Outsiders will take on Savio before JKT play against Oilers in another semi final.
Outsiders who booked the ticket in the semis after registering a slim victory over Chui beating them 54-53 in the tricky quarter final game held in the mid-week at the National Indoor Stadium will take on Savio.
Outsiders started the game at slow pace, which saw them behind their opponents (Chui) by 15-14 points at the end of the first quarter of the breathtaking quarterfinal with both teams taking extra efforts to emerge victorious.
In the following quarters Outsiders revived and managed to dominate the game using their experienced players Claudio Kisanko and Mwinuka who scored 12 and 10 points respectively.

Despite losing the chance to qualify Chui, which was promoted to the league, earlier this year displayed a superb game and overpowered Outsiders in the first and third quarters of the game.
JKT reached semis after beating Vijana 'The City Bulls’ 81-63 in their last game ‘to finish on top of the Western Conference.
Basketball Dar es Salaam (BD) Technical Development and Competition Director, Manasseh Zablon told the 'Daily News' yesterday that the day will also see Don Bosco’s Lady Lioness facing Tanzania Prisons at the same venue in a crucial match to decide the semi-finalist in the Kili RBA ladies’ league.
The winner of the match will join JKT Stars, Jeshi Stars and the defending champions Cargo ladies.
Both Kili RBA men’s and ladies league seasons are scheduled to wind up on December 17.

UGANDA'S chances of retaining the East and Central Nations Championship have hit a snag. The tournament is due in Kigali, Rwanda February 24 to March 3, 2007.

The Federation of Uganda Basketball Associations (Fuba) last month summoned 42 players to begin training but leading stars including two-time MVP Norman Blick snubbed the call.
About 15 players have been training regularly at Makerere University for the past three weeks under the stewardship of coaches Robert Ndamagye and Silvan Kaboha but most of them have now thrown in the towel. Ronnie Kasewu, Stephen Okias, David Kiberu, Allan Tawoda, Robert Mubiru, Eric Malinga and Charles Ssuubi are some of the players that have given up on training. They have blamed lack of facilitation and postponement of the tournament as the reasons for their actions.
The tourney was pushed from last month to March next year. "How do they (FUBA) expect us to spend on transport and refreshments for all that time," said one of the players.Players that have attended training this week include Sadolin Power's Richard Balemwa, Simon Otine, Pascal Alule (Livingstone), Ben Komakech and Joseph Ikong.

FUBA technical committee chairman Yunus Nkutu said the federation has no money and needs a sponsor for the team. Uganda beat Kenya to win the championship last year.

The women, second to Kenya last year, are however training without incident.

E. Ateng, F. Tumusime, S. Solomon, R. Busulwa, N. Kayanja, F. Rubinga, D. Uwizera, B. Sentongo, J. Etalu and E. Katerega. The officials are Tom Ocamuringa (coach), Edmund Lumu (Team Manager) and Ahamed Tamale (Head of Delegation).

The Somalia basketball team arrived in Nairobi on Tuesday from London for the inaugural Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (Anoca) Zone Five under-20 championships which begin tomorrow.

The 18-man team is made up of players of Somalia origin residing in the United Kingdom.Among those who arrived are head of delegation Duran Farah and coach Muhammud Nur. The players are Omar Mohammed, Chab Kirnon, Liban Hassan, Abdi Muktar, Ibrahim Ali, Mohammed Sharif, Mohammed Haliff, Koshin Diriye and Bashir Musse.

The countries are Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi and Egypt. The competition will be used to identify young talent ahead of the July All Africa Games and 2008 Beijing Olympics.The competition will feature four events - athletics, boxing, cycling and basketball.