Basketball in Africa

Suleiman Jongo, Mombasa,

Mwanza Boys and the Dream Team (women) slumped to painful defeats in their Wednesday's Intercity Basketball Championship taking place in Mombasa, Kenya.
Mwanza lost 56-43 at the hands of the defending champions, Mombasa City while Mombasa City (women) demolished the Dream Team 62-47 in their .
Cheered on by hordes of fans who thronged the KPA venue , Mombasa City reduced the Mwanza lads to novices.
The holders started the game at a high tempo with their towering shooters scoring with ease. They were leading 17-5 until the end of first quarter.
Mwanza then came into the game, pressing their opponents in a bid to level the score and managed to post a slim 26-22 half time lead.
In the third quarter, Mwanza fought relentlessly to maintain their lead, but were outsmarted by the home side who recaptured the lead with 42-34 points.
Mwanza led by their inspirational player, Mohammed Ally alias Dibo regained their poise in early minutes of the final quarter, but lost steam and allowed Mombasa bag 14 more points.
The reigning champions have now recorded two victories having breezed past their city rivals, Mombasa Pwani 69-42 on Wednesday morning.
The highly touted Dar es Salaam women's team, the Dream Team were in a disappointing form after being clobbered 62-47 by Mombasa City.
Mombasa City (women) have also won two games. They pulverised Kampala City Council (KCC) 57-41 in their Tuesday's opening match.
The game started lively with both sides making sporadic attacks and went to the first quarter tied at 9-all.
However, the second quarter saw the home side stepping up their gear to lead 20-18 until the breather.
The Dream Team, who thumped Mombasa Select 62-53 in their opening game, lost composure to allow their opponents outdo them in the remaining quarters.
Jabu Shaban, who bagged 23 points, was the Dream Team's top scorer, but her sparkling display could not help matters.
The Dream Team (men) got their title bid o a flier after beating Mombasa Select 61-49. They were yesterday set to play wounded Mwanza Boys.
The reigning champions in the women's category, Nairobi won their match against Mombasa Select by 69-42.

After Wednesday's games, Mombasa City are leading the men's pool with four points followed by Dar es Salaam, Mombasa Select (two points apiece) and Mwanza (one point).
Mombasa City lead the women's teams with four points followed by Dar es Salaam (3), Nairobi and Mombasa Select (2 each) while Kampala have one point.

Only four men's sides battle it out in the tournament, which qualifies them automatically to the semifinals.