Basketball in Africa

DEFENDING Champion JKT yesterday thrashed UDSM Outsiders 72-39 in a one-sided Kili Super Cup basketball League at the National Indoor Stadium in Dar es Salaam. The victors started strongly taking 19-6 lead in the first quarter.

The one way traffic continued in the second quarter as the army side keeps scoring almost at will to post 31-13 lead at the breather. In the third quarter, UDSM Outsiders woke up from their cat-nap to reduce the tally as they scored 24 points against 10 of JKT. However, they could not contain the charging army-men in the last quarter.

JKT’s points were scored by Ashraf Haroun who managed 15 points while Juma Kissoky scored 12 points. Claudio Kisanko and Ibrahim Mwinyi of UDSM Outsiders score 11 and 9 points respectively. It was a second successive victory for JKT. They launched their campaign on a sound note on Saturday, beating Don Bosco 56-45 at the same venue.

In another men’s game, Savio beat Vijana ‘City Bulls’ 68-57 in a lively match played at the same venue. Both team started strongly as they exchanged quick points. Savio took 16-14 lead in the first quarter before extending their lead to 37-25 at the break. The third quarter saw Savio maintaining their command to lead 48-39.

Savio’s Mohammed Yusuf score 17 points, while Gilbert Batungi scored 16 points. Evergreen Mohammed Ally ‘Dibo’ and Abdallah Ramadhani ‘Dulla’ were the highest scorers for Vijana as they scored 20 and 10 points respectively. Earlier, JKT Stars beat Jeshi Stars 64-23 in ladies league.