Basketball in Africa

Reigning national champions KCB Lions roared to a 75-54 win over International Christian Center (ICC) in a Premier League showdown at the Nyayo National Stadium over the weekend.

The clash saw new signing Zadock Osogo open the flood gates with a three pointer as Lions took a 26-15 first quarter lead. They kept things tight in the second, outscoring their opponents13-10.

By the end of the third, Lions were ahead 55-40 before ICC rallied to take the fourth by out scoring the winners 24-13. Tobias Onyango nailed 36 points for KCB and Osogo added 12.

The ever dangerous ICC duo of Griffin Ligare and Phil Dinga were put under tight checks by the Lions defense throughout the game as they were restricted to 14 and 10 points respectively.

The game of the week however saw a focused Posta side put on an impressive show by defeating Co-operative Bank of Kenya 83-65 to maintain the unbeaten run they share with KCB.

The game gave fans plenty to cheer about with end to end stuff. Led by superb performances by William Ochieng, Ancette Wafula and Desmon Owilli, Posta held a 21-14 lead by the end of the first quarter.

Another Ochieng basket saw Posta increase their lead to 35-23 before netting a three-pointer, which set up a 40-28 scoreline as the teams went for 10 minute breather.

Ochieng continued where he had left off in the third, while Wafula added a three-pointer to bring the scores to 46-31.

Co-op put on a charge midway through the third as a Eugene Genga basket reduced the gap to 41-48. However, Posta stopped the rot, bouncing back to built up a 60-44 lead at the end of the quarter.

The last quarter was stormy. A three-pointer by Ben Oluoch saw Posta race away 63-44, Ochieng followed that with a roaring dunk and when Oluoch stripped Pater Kiganya and fed Wafula for another three, the game was effectively over.

But Wafula was not done yet as he unleashed another three from the paint as Posta pulled away to an unassailable 72-53 lead with 5:25 to play, while a dunk by Owili and Wafula basket made increased the gap to 20 points, at 79-59.

Sharp-shooting Wafula finished with a game-high 31 points that included five three-pointers, Ochieng collected 14 and Owili managed 13. For the Co-op, Peter Kiganya led the way with a very respectable 21 points.

In the women’s league, reigning champions Eagle Wings beat Strathmore University 49-35 as Anastasia Njeri shot 18 points and Bridgit Nanzala scored 10. The ‘Swords’, down 20-22 at half time, had 14 from Faith Owich and 10 from Grace Wanjiku.

Yana rode on a 32-19 lead at the breather and went on to defeat USIU Flames 73-39. Irene Makori shot 14 points with Emilly Ongoro adding 12. Flames’ high-scorer Sajda Ahmed shot 16.

FIBA