Basketball in Africa

by Sande Bashaija
Lugogo

Results
Falcons 72-82 Sadolin Power
Riders 68-75 Ndejje
A-1 43-52 Lady Canons

One win separates Sadolin Power from the MTN-Fuba League men’s topflight championship after they held off battle-hardened Falcons 82-72 in game three of the best of five series Friday night at Lugogo Indoor Stadium.

Power now lead the series 2-1 and can win their third championship with victory in game four on Tuesday. “It’s good we won but we must come out harder in the next game. We were a bit soft today and almost allowed them back into the game,” Power’s star point guard Ben Komakech, who scored 16 points, said.
The game, arguably the most exciting in the series yet, was always under Power’s control until the last two minutes when Falcons threatened to snatch victory.
Power finished the first quarter leading 23-14 and stretched it to 30-16 with five minutes played in the second session. But inspired by Sam Obol (24 points), Falcons crept back and reduced the deficit to only five points (39-34) at the breather.
However, Power’s deep bench was always going to come in handy. Indeed, they pulled away to end the third quarter in command 62-46.
Joseph Ikong, who scored 23 points, was at his best as Power continued to dominate the final period but Falcons battled back and were within four points of victory (70-74) inside the last one minute.
But Ken Balyejusa, the man that comes to life in the last quarter, saved the day with a three-point play on 36 seconds left, and Power had victory in the bag.
“They played better than us and showed more hunger for victory,” Falcons’ boss John Ssimbwa said. Isaac Afidra scored 16 points and Ken Balyejusa added 15, seven of them in the last session, for Power.
Henry Malinga grabbed 15, Isaac Lugudde 14 and Eric Malinga six as Falcons failed to reproduce the magic that saw them convincingly win game two 82-55.

Former women’s most valuable player Flavia Oketcho had a memorable night, garnering a game high 17 points enroute to helping UCU Lady Canons take a 2-1 series lead over A-1 Challenge.
Oketcho’s combination with Brenda Mbone proved too good for A-1 Challenge’s guards. The duo ran the lanes and fed their post players very well.
At some stage in the third quarter, Oketcho crossed over A-1 Challenge’s Kassim Hatima, the duo falling on her fours much to the amusement of the full capacity Lugogo crowd.
Frances Nabulobi, who is still in the hunt of a fourth straight top scorer’s accolade, added 13 points for Lady Canons while Kenyan Loraine Akinyi contributed eight.
Elizabeth Kizza was the only A-1 Challenge player in double figures with 14 points though she couldn’t save her team from the 52-43 defeat in game three.
Ndejje University also won game three 75-68 and are enjoying a 2-1 lead over Knight Riders in the men’s Second Division series.

Meanwhile, Warriors overcame their injury woes to beat UCU Canons 75-67 in the third place play-off on Wednesday. Warriors had blamed injuries for their 2-1 defeat to Falcons in the semifinal series .