Basketball in Africa

BARON Davis has promised to lure more NBA stars to Rwanda. The Los Angeles Clippers point guard made a brief tour to the country last week and noted that Rwandan basketball had a bright future after watching a couple of league games.

While he could not give names, he said, “there is big talent in Rwanda and I think it will be great if more NBA players came over and inspired the local youngsters.”

Before joining the Clippers, Davis, 31, had stints at Charlotte Hornets and Golden State Warriors. In 2002, he played for the US national team in the Fiba World Championship held in Indianapolis, USA.

Proprietor of First Deepwater Basketball Club of Lagos, Babatunde Babalola has promised his team a tour of West Africa following their feat at the 2009/2010 NBBF/Zenith Bank Women Premier League.

Speaking at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos after his club stopped the domination of First Bank Basketball Club, an elated Babalola told P.M Sports that the ladies and their coaching crew have made him and the company proud, hence the deserving commendation and reward for the team for working so hard to achieve the feat despite difficulties they went through during the season.

He gave kudos to the team for making the dream to win the title a reality despite the financial crisis.

“This team deserve the accolades they are getting because this is a team that came on board last season and in such a short time we are already the league champions. I’m happy to say that within a short we hit the Nigerian basketball scene, we not only stopped the domination of First Bank team, but we won the league,” he said.

He said the victory showed that they are not making empty promises, having beaten the Elephant Girls, as the First Bank team are called. He added that their next target is the continent which they plan to conquer in the next few years.

He informed that they are going to use the tour of West Africa to prepare for the FIBA-Africa Women Club championship.

Upe Atosu, the team’s point guard, also expressed joy over their victory in the match against First Bank. While giving glory to God, she revealed that determination and the zeal to make a name for themselves was the motivation that drove the team and their coaching crew to achieve the feat. She said the victory is the beginning of many good things to come for the team.

Meanwhile, Head Coach of First Bank Basketball Club, Aderemi ‘Owolo’Adewunmi, has taken the defeat in good faith. While congratulating First Deepwater for the achievement, he said his team tried their best having been champions of Nigerian League in the last nine years.

—Wale Joseph

Ijeoma Uchedu of First Deepwater Basketball Club with the ball during their match against Dolphins Basketball Club at the just concluded NBBF/Zenith Bank Premier League. She emerges the Best Rebounder of the Season, while leading her to the title.


On Saturday at the National Stadium, Lagos, Indoor Sports Hall, First Deepwater Basketball Club of Lagos emerged the new champion of the Nigeria domestic women league as they rose to the occasion by ending the dominance of First Bank Basketball Club in the grand finale of the 6th edition of the NBBF/Zenith Bank Women Premier League.

The oil and gas ladies dominated the game from the first quarter resulting in a 24-09 points win for the Coach Lateef Erinfolami side, who showed great determination to carry the day as they continued the onslaught in the second quarter, though they dropped the quarter to the former champion by 20-14 points. But they held on to the lead with a 38-29 points advantage going into the break.

The Babatunde Babalola-owned club further widened the margin between them and the reigning African champion when they took the third quarter with the duo of Nkechi Akashili and Ijeoma Uchendu marshalling the First Deepwater offence and defence by 12-09 points and returned to win the fourth quarter by 16-11 points to end First Bank’s dominance of the Nigeria women league, for close to ten years with a 66-49 points victory.

Uchendu, who was later adjudge the league best rebounder, led the floor with a double double figure of 22 points, 12 rebounds, 9 assists and 2 steals while Akashili emerged the league’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) displacing First Bank captain and guard, Funmilayo Ojelabi, She also had a double double of 20 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists with forward Kelechi Obasi contributing 13 points and 7 rebounds.

First Deepwater led the Coach, Adewunmi “Owolo” Aderemi tutored First Bank in all departments of the game watched by a capacity crowd as the Babalola ladies grabbed a total of 47 rebounds (offence and defence) to First Bank’s 39. First Deepwater players gave a total of 18 assists as against First Bank’s 10, while they turned the ball over fifteen times against First Bank’s 20 turn-over. Speaking with Basketball Timeout after their hard earned victory, Nkechi Akashili the Most Valuable Player of the 2009/2010 season dedicated the victory and her award to the memory of her sister, Tina Akashili, who died last month.

She also thanked God for the victory, while praising their opponents, First Bank for fighting to the last. Also speaking, Coach Erinfolami attributed his side’s victory to dedication and total commitment on the part of the players and management of the modest side who stormed the Nigerian scene in December 2008.

Erinfolami, who is winning a major title in the local scene for the first time since turning coach after a fruitful playing career, stated that it’s their turn to dictate the pace in the Nigeria women basketball league and make appreciable impact in Africa and world club championships.

“We are not going to let our winning the league title become a stumbling block to us. Rather, we shall continue to build on this great achievement, I am dedicating this victory to the players for their dedication and commitment and the club management for always giving us words of encouragement even in the face of financial hardship, which our sponsoring company experienced recently, but we thank God for making it possible by crowning our efforts with this resounding success,” Erinfolami noted.

Ernest Ijeomah, Head Coach of International School, University of Lagos, led the school’s basketball team to pick a ticket at the Western Conference of the Nestle Milo Secondary Schools Basketball Championship in Ibadan,Oyo State, for the national finals of the championship coming up in Lagos later this year. He spoke with WALE JOSEPH on their experience and expectations.


Ernest Ijeomah, Head Coach of International School, University of Lagos.

Q: How easy was your victory at the Western Conference finals in Ibadan?
A: It’s great picking the ticket to the national finals ahead of other schools, but the truth is that it is not easy. I give all the thanks to God for seeing us through, it was one of the toughest in a long time.

Q: How do you hope to take the school, particularly in Lagos State, to the national finals?
A: With God and my colleague, Coach Oyewole Adebiyi, we hope to make the parents who have been very supportive, happy. The school management and the students and of course Lagos State are very proud and happy. We hope to go all the way in October in Lagos.

Q: What was your experience like at the conference finals?
A: Yes, this year’s screening was far better compared to previous years but my advise is that they should use more officials for the screening and the Nigeria School Sports Federation, NSSF, should always keep records of the previous editions and come to the venue of the conference finals to make screening more easy because the bane of genuine sports development is the issue of mercenaries.

Q: When are preparations for the national finals dunking-off?
A: We will resume training after the students’ examinations but the truth is that we can not achieve much without the support of all stakeholders, the school management, parents and the state sports ministry through the State Basketball Association. Our desire is to win the trophy.

“For us as Warriors we win wars not battles, so the game against Falcons will be taken as a battle,” Ambrose Tashobya, who doubles as FUBA and Warriors president announced prior to the game between defending champions Kyambogo Warriors and Mountain Dew Falcons on Friday night. But by the end of the match, the Warriors had failed to win the battle, falling 67-66 to Falcons at YMCA grounds. How did it get here? At the start of the season, Warriors set themselves three targets; defend the title they won last year, claim the Zone Five championship to be played in Burundi three months from now, and get to the semi-finals of the Africa Club Championship.
Ten games into the regular season, however, the targets are yet to be reached, despite putting up what was arguably their best performance since they went on a shopping spree that brought in Orom Makmot, Henry Kariuki, Pascal Alule and the Malinga brothers, Henry and Eric. They still lack that cutting edge and composure to get the win.
Coach Gad Eteu who came out in what looked like his Sunday best suit believes it was simply a “lapse in concentration” and hopes that they will get there.
Despite Eteu’s positive attitude, three losses to title contenders, Falcons, UCU Canons and Dmark Power paints a gloomy picture of what lies ahead. The squad is under pressure to play flawless basketball which they can’t seem to do.
From the look of things, Warriors need to return to the market and get a point guard who can set the tempo, the plays and unlock defences because their offense and defence is slow. Skipper Jude Ocen might have showed the true qualities of a leader by playing while sick, but even when he is fine, he hasn’t looked like that point guard who can get you to the promised land.
The lack of a natural ball handler explains why and how Warriors lost. They had a total of 24 turnovers, 12 more than Falcons, managed only two steals, while Falcons had 11 and most importantly, 18 assists, five short of Falcons’ 23. These are pivotal issues and revolve around the point guard.
The lack of team chemistry is also still an issue for Eteu. With such a wealthy bench, Eteu keeps rotating the team, making it hard for the players to prove their worth. Henry managed only 11 points, while Eric had only six. Ronnie Kasewu, who played for 30 minutes, the most time by any Warrior player, had only 18 points.
Critics have argued that this is simply the first round and Warriors will soon be unstoppable when it matters most. But for a team to be a champion, they need to register wins. If Warriors have failed to win that battle, then how would they win the wars?

Results – Saturday
Berkley 41-81 KCC
Jammers 73-57 Stormers
Shooters 35-37 UCU JV
Diamond 44-50 Vegetarian
Women
Cubs 27-109 Nabisunsa
Sparks 74-44 Amazon

Yet to win a game in the MTN-Fuba League, Berkley could soon find themselves heading back to the lower division after just one season in the topflight. An 81-41 defeat to KCC Lions at YMCA court, Wandegeya on Saturday stretched Berkley’s losing sequence to 10 as the first round of the league winds down.

KCC are not safer either as they lie third from bottom with 13 points, the same tally as Ndejje University Angels, on place above them in ninth.

Elsewhere, Nabisunsa Girls School erased Makerere Cubs with a 109-27 whipping in the women’s division. Joy Chemutai sunk a game-high 25 points in Nabisunsa’s fourth victory of the season.

By CAXTON APOLLO

National basketball league champions Kenya Commercial Bank Lions and Eagle Wings registered convincing victories in their first leg matches at the Nairobi’s National Stadium on Sunday.

KCB Lions rode on 20 points from Tobias Onyango to claw Tigers of the United States International University 85-46 while Caroline ‘’Majeng’ Achieng scored 27 points to help women’s champions Eagle Wings keep their unbeaten record intact with a huge 108-18 win over weak Kenya Polytechnic.

In other matches at the same venue, International Christian Centre beatKenya College of Accontancy-University 85-49 while Flames of USIU-A trashed KCA-U 60 -29 in a women’s league contest.

Parklands Baptist were 72-35 winners over Africa Nazarene University while Mennonites overcame Kenya Polytechnic 49-44. University of Nairobi Terrorists beat Blazers 62 - 61. Ulinzi Warriors romped to a 104-34 win over African Nazarene University.

KCB Lions ambushed the Tigers with Onyango and Victor Onyango hitting the target as the bankers led 17-9 in the first quarter. What was expected to be big showdown turned out to be a one-sided affair as Lions roared strongly to remain up 34-21 at half-time.

Fitted well

Lions coach Francis Ngunjiri played several of his new players led by Zaddock Odhiambo who fitted well in the team. Victor Ochieng scored 11 points, Odhiambo added 14 for Lions while Evans Leting shot 11, Chris Mulumba had 12 and Pappillion Odhiambo sunk 10 for the losers.

Caroline ‘Majeng’ Achieng hit game-high 27 while Angela Okoth added 22 points as Wings got a huge 108-18 win over Kenya Polytechnic.

Wallidan continues to dominate the basketball in the country as manifested by their outstanding performances, which saw them win a series of basketball tournaments over the period.

Their latest victory came against the determined Serrekunda East basketball team, whom they thumped by 41 points to 26, as part of the second game in the ongoing late Pa Modou Sarr’s basketball tournament, played at the Serrekunda West Mini-stadium on Friday.

Coach Ousman Conateh and his men dominated the game from the beginning up till the end. As a result of this, they collected a deserved win to record a perfect start to the competition going into the next encounter with something to be optimistic about.

Just then there was another thrilling basketball game between YMCA and sports house, which ended in favour of Sports House after they emerged the winner by 35 points- 31, at the Serrekunda West Mini-stadium earlier on Friday. The game marked the opening match of yet another late Pa Modou Sarr’s memorial basketball tournament.

Other results in the tournament saw Kanifing being awarded points after their opponent Manjai failed to turn up, while Porcupine lost to Serrekunda East by 50-39 points

Author: Lamin Drammeh

Friday is the date set aside by Serrekunda West for the annual late Pa Modou Sarr Memorial Basketball Tournament, which is expected to bring together a total of 8 teams.

YMCA are pitted in group A, alongside Sports House, LK Boys and Kanifing, while Wallidan, Sererekunda East, Lamin and Porcupines Basketball team make up group B.

The fixture which was yesterday released indicated that the opening game would be played between YMCA and Sports House, is expected to be followed by another crucial fixture when Wallidan meet Serrekunda East on the same day, at the Serrekunda West Mini-stadium.

Day Two of the 8 team tournament has also promised to produce two interesting basketball matches when LK boys take on Kanifing before Lamin face Porcupines, as part of the second game on Saturday.

The fixtures are listed below:


FRI-JUNE 11th - 5pm YMCA Vs LK BOYZ
- 6pm WALLIDAN Vs LAMIN

SAT- JUNE 12th - 5pm SPORTS HOUSE Vs KANIFING
- 6pm SK EAST Vs PORCUPINES S.C

FRI ?JUNE 18th -5pm YMCA Vs KANIFING

-6pm WALLIDAN Vs PORCUPINE

SAT-JUNE 19th -5pm SPORTS HOUSE Vs LK BOYZ

-6pm SK EAST Vs LAMIN

FRI-JUNE 25th -5pm WINNER A Vs RUNNER UP B
- 6pm RUNNER UP A Vs WINNER B

SAT - JULY 3rd 5pm FINAL

Author: Lamin Drammeh

The basketball tournament organised in memory of the late Pa Modou Sarr has now reached its semis.

Confirming this to Observer Sports, Andrew Jatta, organiser of the event, said Sports House basketball team will play against Serrekunda East basketball team in the first game of the semi-final 5pm on Friday 25th June 2010.

He added that the second game of the semi-final will also be played the same day at 6pm between YMCA and Wallidan. According to Sarr, winners of the semi finals will play the final on Saturday 3rd July 2010 at 5pm. He said that all matches will be played at the Serrekunda West Mini-Stadium and entrance is free.

Author: by Ethiene Sylva

The Ndejje Angels registered a third win against Entebbe based Knight Riders in a thrilling encounter of the MTN FUBA basketball league on Sunday at YMCA, reports Usher Komugisha.

The Angels outscored the Riders in three quarters (17-12, 24-16 and 20-18) with Donald Ssali and Crispin Biko dropping 13 and 11 points respectively.

In the only ladies encounter, unbeaten A-1 Challenge defeated high school side-Nabisunsa 82-50.

Written by Mphatso Malidadi

Central Zone Basketball League (Cezobal) promising side Blazers have caused steer in the league after displacing defending champions Mimbulu at the end of the first round.

Cezobal first round wound up on Wednesday night at African Bible College and Blazers, who narrowly defeated Mimbulu 77-76, are at the top with 25 points.
Cougars, who pounced Pirates 94-56 in final match, lie third with 24 points while ABC are third with the same number of points.
Mimbulu have dropped to fourth with 23 points and are followed by Trojans, 12 Disciples and Airborne Rangers, who are on fifth, sixth and seventh positions respectively.

Bunda Buffaloes have collected 18 points to occupy eighth position with Mdzodzo, Pirates, Alliance One and Kamuzu Barracks following in pecking order.
Natural Resources College Pythons are thirteenth while Bayonets are anchoring the table with 11 points. Bayonets lost their final game to Alliance One 35-42.

Cezobal general secretary Herbert Chidaya said the first round was very competitive.
“The games have been very competitive and difficult to predict. ABC, who were nowhere near the top last season, have been the most improved team. This could be as a result of their recruitment drive which saw Vincent Mbeule (formerly Crazy Warriors) and Geoff Kumwenda (formerly Trojans) joining the side,” he said.

Chidaya said Mbeule was one of the consistent performers and was one of the leading candidates to win most valuable player award at the end of the season.
“This is also the first time after a long time that Cezobal is enjoying some sort of sponsorship from the cooperate world. Cezobal referees are being paid for officiating games courtesy of Buffalo Guards and TMRP Interprizes (PUMA Agents in Malawi),” he said.

Chidaya said Cezobal had also partnered with is HB Stationeries, who provide stationary, printing services as well paying individuals managing the scores and records bench.
“We have also identified a sponsor, who will honour star performers at the end of the season” he said.

The Cezobal general secretary said the first round was also a success after they held a referees clinic, which was conducted by Daud Suleman and Mike Fluke.

He said the second round is expected to start soon after the Independence Celebrations.

Oputa Emeka Obi, current Assistant Coach OF Police Baton Basketball Club of Lagos and a notable basketball stakeholder believes Nigeria can compete favourable well with their African counterpart at the world stage if proper mechanisms are put in place. The Ex-International in this interview with SportsDay’s Phillips Tayo speaks on various issues affecting the growth of Basketball while calling for proactive reforms.

Low Govt Funding
The state of low funding for the organisation of the game in recent times is a mitigating factor hindering the development. If you look at how much being budgeted for football and compare it to other sports’ budget Basketball inclusive, then we can question the sincerity of the government.
If two billion can be budgeted for World Cup in the name of football, then the government should budget the same two billion to be shared by other sporting association and the results will be massive and positive for Nigerian sports.

Sponsorship Package
The 40% percent of the sponsorship package shared to the Basketball Clubs is inadequate given the prevailing circumstances in the industry. It is like a drop of water into the ocean. Club Ownership and administration entails huge expenses to be incurred vis-a-vis provision of training kits, jerseys, medical and insurance packages, camping and feeding of players, payment of contract fees, allowances and bonuses with other logistics expenditure.
It is a big challenge which club administrators grapple with and this is in view of the fact that most of the clubs are not government-owned.

League Sponsorship
The league sponsorship is commendable although, there is still room for improvement. This season shouldn’t be a test-run like last year season but certain developments within the NBBF polity occasioned the situation. Our league should be fashioned to run concurrently with our European counterparts because we are of the FIBA Family. With this development, we need to initiate reforms and policies to attract more sponsors, and then we can be guaranteed of a better future.

NBBF League Board
The league board should be more proactive in the task of organising a befitting league in Nigeria. The task seems daunting but the continuity and solid foundation can only be created if the NBBF league board can be able to fashioned a blueprint to restructure in terms of broadcasting, competent officiating, administrative structure, welfare, massive publicity and branding.

Way Forward
As at now, next season fixtures should have been drawn out against the commencement so that our league sponsor-DSTV can incorporate it into our programmes features and start to televise our matches live. Also there should regular training clinics for match officials to keep abreast of new rules. The league “rulesbook” should also be published and given to the major stakeholders to allow for uniformity to reign and avoid unnecessary officiating blunders.
In essence, the league board should be a fulcrum of ideas exchanges between the federation and the relevant stakeholders.

Kampala

Results – Friday
Warriors 66-67 Falcons
UCU 70-62 KIU
Women
A-1 49-36 Stormers

Mike Buzangu left YMCA court, Wandegeya on Friday night on the brink of cult status as he made the match-winning basket in Mountain Dew Falcons 67-66 victory over Kyambogo Warriors.
The shooting guard, who had 17 points in the low-scoring contest, ran an individual post-to-post move with 20 seconds left on the clock to sink an easy lay-up as Warriors’ defence stood still.

Jude Ochen and Ronnie Kasewu opted to close down Buzangu’s teammate Karim Aine Nkusi hoping for the Rwandese pair to exchange passes but their insight proved futile as the repeat of last year’s best-of-five semifinal series became a game of chess.

The crowd stood up hoping for a response from the champions. Form the inbound, an 18-second transition ended up with Ochen missing as Warriors’ loss column rose to three. Kasewu had a team-high 18 points but fit-again centre Henry Malinga scored five of his 11 in the opening five minutes of the first quarter before fading as Falcons’ physical approach paid off with Richard Osano Omondi (23) and Kami Kabange (14) punishing Warriors.

Earlier, UCU Canons’ 100% record continued with a 70-62 win over KIU Titans while A-1 Challenge beat Magic Stormers 49-36 in the women’s division. A-1 who have beaten all teams this season including rivals KCC will face Lady Bucks on Friday in their last first round match.

CHAMPIONS PLS Hawks have received new tracksuits for their forthcoming trip to Madagascar to take part in the Indian Ocean Club Championship (IOCC) in July.

The team got their brand new red and white tracksuits from sponsors – the Morin Group – on Wednesday afternoon during a training session at the Les Mamelles court.
Morin Group managing director Paul Morin presented a sample of the tracksuits to team manager Gætan Pierre in the presence of Timothy Morin – also of the Morin Group – players, coaches and onlookers.

Paul Morin said this is the first time the Morin Group has sponsored the PLS Hawks team and hopes to give the team more help in the future.

“We feel that PLS Hawks are a very good team and that they need more support to do even better in the coming years. We will definitely make other donations later on,” said Mr Morin.

On accepting the 17 tracksuits, manager Pierre thanked the Morin Group and called on other companies to come forward to help promote sports in Seychelles.

“We are happy to receive these tracksuits; such a donation is a big boost for the team ahead of the IOCC,” said Mr Pierre.

“We welcome such donations and I would like to call on all those who feel that they can help financially, and in kind, to do so to help bring Seychelles’ sports to the highest possible level as it is quite difficult for teams to raise funds.”

The IOCC will take place from July 12-19 and defending men’s division one champions PLS Hawks are expected to leave on July 10.
Women’s champs HotShots are also expected to take part in the yearly tournament.

G. G.
http://www.nation.sc/

After observing yesterday as rest day in the ongoing NBBF/Zenith Bank Women Premier League action resumes today at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, Nigeria with First Deepwater Basketball Club of Lagos taking on Sunshine Angels Basketball Club of Akure in a must win match.

The two club sides are second and third on the log respectively making the match a top of the clash match, as a loss by either of them may end their dream of lifting the trophy ahead of the defending champions, First Bank Basketball Club who are topping the log.

A victory in today’s match will put First Deepwater in pole position to fight for the league title as they are yet to lose a match in the ongoing final phase of the league, while their counterparts from Akure have already lost a match to First Bank, making it difficult for them to overtake First Bank, but the Aderemi Adewunmi-tutored side lost unexpectedly.

First Deepwater point guard, Upe Utosi stated that they are going for an outright victory in the match but cautioned that it will not be easy dumping the Segun Mimiko Ladies whom they lost to during the second phase of the league in Asaba.

The National Under-16 point guard said their ambition is to win the league this season and they are determined to achieve this, hence their resolve to take each match one after the other.

Meanwhile, a member of the League Board, Agboola Pinheiro, has expressed satisfaction with the standard of play in the league, saying with what he saw the future of the game for women is very bright.

He charged the ladies to be more focused and hard-working, adding that with hard work the sky will be their starting point.

In a related development, Lagos Islanders Basketball Club will take on Nigeria Customs Basketball Club in the NBBF/DSTV Men Premier League later today at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Surulere.

The Lateef Erinfolami coached Islanders are second on the table after 7 matches, putting them in contention for the Final Eight, while their opponent in today’s clash, Nigeria Customs, are at the bottom of the table.

The contras fortunes of both sides makes the match a must watch because while Islanders are fighting to consolidate their position on the table, Nigeria Customs are fighting against relegation from the premier league.

—Wale Joseph

Today: FUBA League
Men
KCC v Berkley
Diamonds v Vegetarians
Shooters v UCU JV
Jammers v Stormers
Women
Sparks v Amazon
Cubs v Nab

By Usher Komugisha

BOTTOM-placed Berkley face KCC Lions today as the fight against relegation continues in the MTN FUBA basketball league.

Berkley are yet to win a game this season and are separated from KCC by three points. The match presents another opportunity for the two teams to restore some pride.

Berkley’s manager Martin Opio has not given up hoping for a maiden victory.
“We want to beat KCC and register our first win,” Opio remarked.

MALE basketballer of the year Rodney Lozé is back playing with PLS Hawks after his one-year ban was reduced.

Hit with a technical foul for misconduct during a league match against Cascade Bullets before threatening match officials, international centre Lozé was handed a one-year ban by the National Basketball Technical Committee (NBTC) – an arm of the Seychelles Basketball Federation (SBF).

Speaking to Sports Nation, SBF chairman Roy Collie said the NBTC was wrong to inflict such a lengthy ban on Lozé, although it was not the first time he has been in trouble with the basketball authority.

According to article 8.7 of the SBF bye-laws, a team member who disrespectfully addresses match officials:

(A) Before and during any official match shall be automatically disqualified followed by a minimum of a two-match suspension;

(B) After any official match, shall be automatically suspended for two consecutive matches.

Repeated offences may result in the offender being suspended for a maximum of three to five consecutive official matches.
Mr Collie noted that the NBTC does not have the authority to hand out lengthy bans on a player.

“If the NBTC feels that a player should be banned for a long period of time, it should forward the case to the SBF executive committee for a final decision.

“In Lozé’s case, we took his appeal into consideration and reduced his ban to five matches. But he has been warned that if he repeats such an offence he is likely to be hit with a lengthy ban,” added basketball head Collie.
The first time Lozé was banned for one year was in 2004.

CSK are contended with the way things have unfolded five games into the 2010 national basketball league.

The Rugunga-based side now playing in their fourth season, has collected seven points from their opening four games.

After losing their league opener against this year’s surprise package KBC 60-92, CSK recovered to win their next three games. The team thrashed Kigali Institute of Education (KIE) 86-61 and Ferwaba select (76-54) but the highlight of their season so far is without doubt Saturday’s 63-60 thrilling victory over defending champions APR.

CSK came onto the scene in 2007 and stunned many when they reached the play-off finals that year only to lose to Marines.

The team has since failed to match that display after finishing fourth in 2008 and 2009. But with new recruits in Elibo Muhire (shooting forward), Bunene Kajeguhakwa (center) and the Espoir pair of Aristide Mugabe (point guard) and Léon Hakizimana (shooting guard), the side’s head coach Prosper Mihigo is finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.

In particular, Kajeguhakwa, who is an ex-APR and Marines player, has been inspirational for the side and currently has an average of 18 points.

“Muhire and Bunene bring in experience in the side. Their work rate in training and during games is also commendable,” Mihigo said of the pair.

This weekend, the league will be put on hold to pave way for the inter-university basketball games which are being held in honour of all those who perished during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.

Some of the universities who had confirmed participation by press time included hosts KIST, National University of Rwanda (UNR), School of Finance and Banking (SFB), Mutara Polytechnic, Kicukiro College of Technology (KCT) and Kavumu College of Education among others.

Royal Hoopers of Port Harcourt at the weekend maintain its hold at the top of the Atlantic conference table of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) organised DStv Premier League with a 66-56 win over Union Bank of Lagos.

The bankers drew first blood as they tore the home side's defense apart and led 16-11 at the end of the first quarter.

The Ogoh Odaudu-tutored Hoopers fought back in the second period to tie the score at 26 all at halftime.

And the hosts held on to the momentum after the break, with Moses Daudu, Anyebe Ujoh, Musa Usman, Yusuf Abukaubar and Ikachi Ochoma getting it done at both ends of the court as they outscored their opponents 24-11 in the third quarter to open a 13-point lead, 50-37.

Union Bank fed Onyeka Ekpete down low and the move seemed to work as they cut the deficit, but Victor Anthony and Daudu make key baskets to hold off the visitors' rally. The Hoopers lost the final quarter 19-16 but still prevailed.

Anthony finished with 15 points, five rebounds, two steals and on blocked shot while Usman added 12 points and four assists as Hoopers improved to 6-2.

Odaudu said his team is committed to its course of qualifying for the FIBA Africa Championship Zone-III elimination as no team will be underrated in the league.

Olusegun Ikuesan
FIBA Africa

NAIROBI (Kenyan Premier League) - Reigning champions KCB Lions thrashed Strathmore University 72-53 while Posta were upended by International Christian Centre (ICC) 73-66 in the weekend's top ties played at Nyayo National Stadium gymnasium.

Lions were on top of things from the very start, recovering from the loss to Co-operative Bank of Kenya with a virtuoso show as they mauled the Blades.

The students trailed 19-9 at the end of the first quarter and 38-23 at halftime. They tried their best after the break, but were simply outplayed, getting outscored 40-24 over the last 20 minutes.

Tanky Anthony Mbori led the Lions with a game-high 24 points and Tobias Onyango added 16.

Paul Nyakinda had 16 of his own to pace the Blades while Emmanuel Odhiambo chipped in with 14.

Meanwhile, Posta had their fine run of four wins out of five game sbrought to an end by ICC.

The Mailmen got off to a slow start and trailed 20-11 at the end of the opening period but rallied back in the second and had the deficit down to three, 30-27, by halftime.

However, ICC once again were quickest out of the gate on resumption and they stretched their advantage to seven, 54-47.

Posta matched their opponents offensively in the fourth quarter but failed to get the necessary stops at the defensive end. They weren't helped by their free-throw shooting woes down the stretch.

The win was ICC's third in five games, which gives them eight points. Posta, dropping only their second out of six games, have 10 points and trail Lions by one.

Griffin Ligare at 25 points for ICC. Desmond Owili led Posta with 18.

Elsewhere, Kenya Ports Authority's (KPA) teams won their match-ups with United States International University (USIU) at the Makande Welfare hall. The men fought hard on their way to a 63-54 win over Tigers.

KPA women were rampant dismantling USIU Flames 123-34 after a 44-12 first half margin. The former champions have proved a hard nut to crack at home and are the only women's side to post century scores against some weak teams.

Yana maintained their top spot with a 59-44 win over Sprite Storms 59-44. They have 11 points from six games while their opponents on the day have six from five matches.

In another men's tie, Blazers edged out Lomboritz 66-63. The score was tied at 33 all at the break.

Dann OWERRE
FIBA Africa

About ten Angolan referees are candidates to the international basketball refereeing course, promoted by the sports federation (FIBA), which started Friday in Luanda, at 9 am at the premises of the federation.

According to a press release that ANGOP had access to, besides the ten Angolans, 12 foreign referees from countries like Seychelles, Burundi, Lebanon, Tanzania, Kenia, Mauritius, Egypt and the Democratic Republic of Congo will also participate in the training action.

The training action will be led by the sports director of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), Lobomir Kotleba, and Angolan instructor Nelson Soares de Campos.

The training action aims at improving the quality of referees in the country and increasing the number of international umpires and FIBA referees in Angola.

Currently, Angola has three international referees, namely Domingos Simão, Fernando Pacheco and Carlos Júlio.

Print | Digg it | Wikio

Liberia have got another opportunity to host a FIBA preliminary competition.

The country was given the green light to stage the preliminary round of the female qualifier by the African basketball governing body.

The news comes a little over a week after Liberia hosted the FIBA Africa Zone III male and female Championships.

According to the Secretary General of the Liberia Basketball Federation, the event will be held in the senior category.

Mr. Fred Pratt described the news as a boost for the country and said it signals FIBA Africa satisfaction with the standard of the game in Liberia.
“This is to show that we are trying to put Liberian basketball on the map of Africa and it’s a good boost for us,”.
“It was suppressing to me because we just hosted a tournament a week ago and FIBA is asking us to host another,” noted Mr. Pratt.

He did not however disclose the calendar for the showpiece and said modalities were still being worked out on the possibility of the country hosting the tournament.

Liberia’s traditional club Invincible Eleven has settled its financial obligation with FIBA Africa.

IE made the payment to the African basketball governing body through the Liberia Basketball Federation.

The club was ban 2006 from all FIBA Africa activities and subsequently fined seven thousand United States Dollars for disorderly conduct and its failure to settle hotel bills while honouring a FIBA fixture in the Ivory Coast.

The payment of the money will now afford them the opportunity to participate in next year’s FIBA Africa and LBF league seasons.

The U-18 male basketball team of Liberia has qualified for the FIBA Africa Championship in Rwanda.

The junior Lone Star made it to the Promised Land after an extra-ordinary win over their Ivoirian counterparts at the climax of the Zone III qualifiers held in the country.

Liberia beat the Ivory Coast in all two matches played on Saturday at the partially completed SKD Sports Complex Gymnasium in Paynesville.

They won the first match 70-35 and the second 60-43 to book their place for the Rwanda showdown.

Unlike the first match, the second pairing was filled with much competitiveness as the sides battle things out with class.
It was a showpiece in which the hosts had to wait until 38 seconds to make a single basket.
And soon after they broke the deadlock they never stop draining the points and always looked courageous on the evening.
emah Manoba was their star of the night, pocketing some smiling 23 points and 4 rebounds.

Meanwhile the Ivory Coast have filed a protest against Liberia for feeding over aged players in the male category.
Earlier on, in the female category Liberia went down disgracefully to their Ivorian counterparts 82-51 points.

It was their second defeat to their opponents after previously loosing to them 43-60 in the first pairing on Friday evening.
Our reporter who covered the tournament said it had an impressive turnout.
On the issue of the completion on the gym, our reporter noticed some cardinal parts of the facility were yet to be completed.
Our reporter said the gym lacked a wooden floor, modern rims and backboards.
Our reporter also noticed the wings of the court were vulnerable to rains and were covered with plastics.

Well, local authorities have assured all would be done to complete the facility in time for future engagements.

Results 19 - 20 June 2010

Troopers 67 - 52 N.I.I.T, Gabs S.S.K.B
Cadets 75 - 32 Eagles, Gabs S.S.K.B
Eagles 72 - 58 Splinters, Gabs S.S.K.B
N.I.I.T 61 - 63 Splinters, Gabs S.S.K.B

Log Standings
Team Record
Spartans 5-1
Troopers 5-0
Cadets 3-4
Splinters 3-1
Falcons 2-3
Police 2-2
N.I.I.T 0-6
Flames 2-1
Eagles 1-3
BDF V 0-2

By Ismail Dhakaba Kigongo

Kampala

Today at YMCA
Nkumba v Berkley (8.30pm)
St. Michael v Riders (5.50pm)
Women: Bucks v KCC (7pm)

The biggest ingredient of multi-tasking is proper time management, at least according to Timothy Odeke, a local basketball coach. Today, he needs to draw from his energy reserves as the two teams he tutors, Nkumba

Marines and KCC Leopards, have games in the MTN-Fuba League at YMCA court, Wandegeya.
His evening starts with screaming instructions to KCC as they face beleaguered Lady Bucks in the women’s division before Marines have basement Berkley in the men’s late game. “It’s not the first time to have both teams play on the same day so I have learned to manage my time,” said Odeke.

Since Nkumba University is in recess, the team is able to train in the morning leaving the coach with enough time to tutor the girls’ side in the evening. Aware that the first round winds down, Odeke took time to evaluate the progress made. “It’s not quite what we (Marines) hoped for because the injury situation has frustrated us,” he added.

Danson Ngati, Ladslas Ikungura, Philip Wakimwero and Julius Lutwama have played with various problems but the coach thinks a fifth or sixth placing at the end of the first round can revitalize the team for a play-off charge in the second. Elsewhere, St. Michael, beaten 132-73 by Warriors on Sunday, must pick themselves up for Knight Riders’ sprint challenge.

After 2009/2010 season had ended with happy days to some clubs and tough days for others each team is trying to use the chance of the stoppage and get prepared for the new season, one of clubs who suffered alot in the past season was sportinga nd even they succeded to get a place in the Big six but they faild to win in most games and they were in the last position from the begining.

Sporting board this year succeded to sign for two good players will help alot the first one is Ittihad big man Ahmed Sedik and the second a player with alot of talent Nour Emad, sporting board also renew their current Serbian coach contratc for a new year

By Ismail Dhakaba Kigongo

Wandegeya

Results (men) – Sunday
KCC 71-96 UCU
Ssaku 78-86 Sky Jammers
Crane 92-68 Stormers
Stone 64-70 Heaters
Women
Sparks 74-61 Nabisunsa

Perfection is slowly creeping into UCU Canons like a whirlwind and now the Mukono-based side is two games away from finishing the entire MTN-Fuba League first round unbeaten.

On Sunday, UCU easily steam-rolled KCC Lions 96-71 at YMCA court, Wandegeya thereby stretching their winning streak to nine. Only KIU Titans and Mountain Dew Falcons stand in the university team’s path. And Nick Natuwereza, the UCU coach, believes his side is far from perfect though he couldn’t downplay the steps made from last season’s flirt with relegation.

“Definitely, we are much better than last season. This doesn’t mean that everything is okay. Defence is lacking as teams score easily against us while offense is poor at times,” Natuwereza said.

Experienced Geoff Omondi returned to the team after a one-match absence to sink a team-high 17 points, his brother Robert Mugabe added 13 whereas the Enabu brothers, Jimmy (8) and Ivan (2) had an off-day.

KCC were not threatened in UCU’s wake as Jeje Chaka (20), Andrew Okot (14) and Ivan Kasozi (11) fought hard but it was all in vain as their side trailed 18-25, 13-18, 22-19 and 18-34 in the four quarters respectively. “Our target now is to finish the first round on a high and try to play better in the second,” the youthful coach told Daily Monitor. UCU face KIU this Friday with the awaited Falcons’ date coming a week after.

PREMIUM Cobras has taken a step closer in clinching this year’s league title following weekend victory over MBU Rockers while Hotshots offset Anse Etoile Stars to keep their title race clear.

Cobras started the match on an offensive pace and at the end of the first quarter they were leading 24-12. Rockers managed to bounce back to match their opponents on score, thus concluding the first half on 12 points deficit (34-22).

The third quarter was more closely contested with Cobras leading by three points – 23-20 –at the end. The Premium Cobras’ players showed their real intention in the last quarter where they totally dominated their opponents to comfortable win it 21-11 and the match 78-53.

Nigerian Michael Ohiero was Cobras’ top scorer with 21 points while captain Nigel Sinon had the hot hands for Rockers with 16 points.

Premium Cobras is now occupying the runner up spot with maximum 16 points after 8 matches while Rockers lies fourth on 13 points.

Still during the weekend, leaders Baya suffered a huge blow to their title race after they were defeated 94-79 by third placed PLS Hawks. Hawks dominated the match and led the scoring all-throughout the four quarter (23-20, 19-18, 26-25 and 26-16). They are now on Captain Jenita Toussaint (in green) led Hotshots Past Anse Etoile Stars15 points.

In two other first division matches played last week, Razors defeated Mont Fleuri Dawgz defeated Angel 60-54 while Razors narrowly edged-out new-comers RA Heron 68-63.

In the women’s matches played during the weekend, Hotshots comfortably defeated Anse Etoile stars 75-62 to climb a step further in defending its league title, while RA Sister thrashed Cadettes 85-15. Hotshots is now third on seven points, two less than Anse Etoile Stars who are occupying the runner-up spot. Hotshots has played a match less.

In the sole second division encounter during the weekend, Praslin Warriors came from behind to beat AAP Brother 50-48.

KIGALI Basketball Club (KBC) maintained their scintillating run in the national basketball league after back to back wins over the weekend.

The newly formed club battled to a 79-71 victory over Rusizi before thrashing National University of Rwanda (UNR) 79-56 to take their unbeaten run to five games.

KBC Coach Pierre Gategabondo attributed the winning streak to the team’s determination, team work and work ethic.
“The boys play as one and play for each other. They have the will to win and train hard because they want to win,” Gategabondo explained.

During the UNR game on Sunday, KBC center Luc Mutabaruka wooed the crowd with a series of spectacular dunks as he raked in 24 points to finish as the game’s top scorer.

Meanwhile, defending champions continued to have an indifferent season as they crumbled to their second defeat of the season on Saturday.

The Indomitable lions who opened their title defence on a low note after losing to UGB suffered their second defeat on Saturday against CSK 60-63 but regrouped to see off a Ferwaba select side 70-54 the following day.
APR coach Cliff Owuor has now blamed injuries for the defeat.
“While we are still struggling to come to terms with the departure of our key players to Uganda’s Falcons, the others players are down with injury,” the Kenyan said.

National Basketball League
Saturday

Ferwaba 61-58 KIE
CSK 63-60 APR
Espoir 96-71 UNR
KBC 79-71 Rusizi

Sunday

Espoir 60-77 Rusizi
KBC 79-56 UNR
UGB 90-66 KIE
APR 70-54 Ferwaba

by NELSON DIRENG

Fancied Police find themselves in unfamiliar territory in the Botswana Basketball Association (BBA) league as they surprisingly anchor the log.

The giants finished third last year and have been a perennial threat to Troopers' dominance. This season, Police have lost two games - falling to lowly Splinters and Troopers in successive weekends.

Police treasurer, Kabo Khama, attributes their position to the high level of competition in the league this season."Teams such as Splinters and Eagles have shown a lot of dedication in the league this year as they have performed exceptionally well thus far," he explained. Khama said Splinters prevailed over his team because they have a tall player who took advantage of Police's diminutive players. "Splinters had a very big player whom they used as an advantage over our small players throughout the game," he said. He added that their low position is also due to the fact that they have played fewer games than the leading three teams. Khama remains confident that his team will soon start climbing up the log. He said they face a tough task to beat Spartans before their game against Troopers to be assured of a top three finish. He believes if they beat the two teams, considered the toughest, they will have a good chance against the rest. Meanwhile, BBA spokesman, Thuli Jankey said the league has proceeded without major hiccups. He said their challenge remains failure to honour fixtures. "Some teams fail to honour matches because of transport problems whilst some do so without reason," he explained.

Jankey said the BBA will not hesitate to take action against teams that fail to honour fixtures without valid reasons. He said that teams that forfeit games will be fined and suspended from the league if they offend three times.

Jankey said they might consider rescheduling games as attention has focused on the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. He said the World Cup has not affected spectator turnout so far but if things change, games may be re-scheduled. "Most of the games are played before 6pm creating space for people to watch the evening (World Cup) games," he said. The BBA league continue tomorrow at the Sir Seretse Khama Barracks (SSKB) Basketball Courts. Spartans are top with 11 points, while Troopers and Falcons are second and third with eight and seven points respectively.

Fixtures
Eagles vs Splinters
Troopers vs NIIT
Cadets vs Eagles
NIIT vs Splinters.

by MOGOMOTSI BUZWANI

FRANCISTOWN: The Botswana Basketball Association (BBA) has been forced to postpone league games due to a shortage of fuel. The shortage started when South African transporter, Transnet workers, went on strike a fortnight ago. The industrial action has ended and the situation is expected to improve.

BBA chairperson, Kabo Khama, said they were forced to cancel their Saturday games after clubs communicated that they will not be able to travel because of the fuel shortages. Gaborone-based Botswana Defence Force (BDF) V were supposed to travel to Francistown to play against Flames and Splinters.

"The games were postponed because one of the teams, BDF V, failed to travel to Francistown due to the fuel situation. Three games were supposed to be played on Saturday. We have not yet set the date for these games," he said.

Khama added that institutional clubs like BDF V are not allowed to use private transport and therefore they could not travel. "Teams like BDF V are not allowed to use their own vehicles or hire transport. The players who play for BDF V are government employees thus the government ensures safety for them all the time. They are supposed to use government vehicles only for their trips," he said.

Kampala

Results – Saturday
Warriors 132-73 St. Michael
TLC 65-60 Planets
Rhino 73-48 Gulu Hawks
Women
Stormers 57-20 Amazon
Nabisunsa 74-45 Crane

Kyambogo Warriors coach Gad Eteu struck a relieved figure if not a convinced one as his side regained their shooting guns at YMCA court, Wandegeya on Saturday night.

Warriors have had an unconvincing start to their MTN-Fuba League title defence but Saturday’s 132-73 thumping of newly-promoted St. Michael might just be a timely answer.

It’s a result so easy to underscore since St. Michael have only won once this season but for Eteu, the importance is in his big guns coming good.
Michael Kariuki shed his struggles since his move from KIU Titans with 21 points but it was his former teammate Markmot Orom who still runs the show.
Orom led Warriors’ onslaught with 27 points while MVP Ronnie Kasewu recovered from a knee injury with six. Joshua Etalu (19), Henry Malinga (12) and Kenyan Martin Okwako also had double figures as Warriors prepared for the big showdown with Mountain Dew Falcons this Friday. Amin Mtambo (22), Daniel Owit (12) and Hakim Muwanika stood out for St Michael.

NAIROBI (Kenyan Premier League) - Reigning champions KCB Lions thrashed Strathmore University 72-53 while Posta were upended by International Christian Centre (ICC) 73-66 in the weekend's top ties played at Nyayo National Stadium gymnasium.

Lions were on top of things from the very start, recovering from the loss to Co-operative Bank of Kenya with a virtuoso show as they mauled the Blades.

The students trailed 19-9 at the end of the first quarter and 38-23 at halftime. They tried their best after the break, but were simply outplayed, getting outscored 40-24 over the last 20 minutes.

Tanky Anthony Mbori led the Lions with a game-high 24 points and Tobias Onyango added 16.

Paul Nyakinda had 16 of his own to pace the Blades while Emmanuel Odhiambo chipped in with 14.

Meanwhile, Posta had their fine run of four wins out of five game sbrought to an end by ICC.

The Mailmen got off to a slow start and trailed 20-11 at the end of the opening period but rallied back in the second and had the deficit down to three, 30-27, by halftime.

However, ICC once again were quickest out of the gate on resumption and they stretched their advantage to seven, 54-47.

Posta matched their opponents offensively in the fourth quarter but failed to get the necessary stops at the defensive end. They weren't helped by their free-throw shooting woes down the stretch.

The win was ICC's third in five games, which gives them eight points. Posta, dropping only their second out of six games, have 10 points and trail Lions by one.

Griffin Ligare at 25 points for ICC. Desmond Owili led Posta with 18.

Elsewhere, Kenya Ports Authority's (KPA) teams won their match-ups with United States International University (USIU) at the Makande Welfare hall. The men fought hard on their way to a 63-54 win over Tigers.

KPA women were rampant dismantling USIU Flames 123-34 after a 44-12 first half margin. The former champions have proved a hard nut to crack at home and are the only women's side to post century scores against some weak teams.

Yana maintained their top spot with a 59-44 win over Sprite Storms 59-44. They have 11 points from six games while their opponents on the day have six from five matches.

In another men's tie, Blazers edged out Lomboritz 66-63. The score was tied at 33 all at the break.

Dann OWERRE
FIBA Africa

National basketball league champions Kenya Commercial Bank Lions rediscovered their winning form to beat Strathmore University 72-53 in their first leg tie at the Nairobi’s Nyayo Stadium on Sunday.

After Co-operative Bank shattered their unbeaten record by defeating them 58-55 last weekend, Lions looked well organized from start to lead 38-23 at half-time.

Anthony Mbori led the bankers with 24 points while Tobias Onyango weighed in with 16. Paul Nyakinda had an identical score for the students, followed by Emmanuel Odhiambo with 14.

In other matches, Mennonites ended Lakside’s five match unbeaten record when they rocked the Kisumu-based side 68-65 while Nairobi Aviation harvested maximum two points following their 55-47 win over Kenya Polytechnic.

On Saturday, Lakeside had beaten World Hope 59-53 at the Nairobi’s Nyayo National Stadium on Sunday.

This win took them to the top of the table with 10 points from five consecutive victories. World Hope had taken a 26-20 half-time lead but lost concentration to lose their fourth match.

Collins Otieno scored 16points while Robert Ogweno added 11 for the winners. Erick Kayiere and James Otundo,who was ejected by referee June Oluoch replied with 10 points each.

In other matches at the same venue, Parklands Baptist also kept their score-sheet clean in five outings when they beat Nairobi Pentecostal Church 52-43 while Kenya Polytechnic celebrated their first win in the women’s championship when they defeated Kenya College of Accountancy-University 30-18.

by Olusegun Ikuesan)
Royal Hoopers basketball club of Port Harcourt at the weekend maintain its hold at the top of the Atlantic conference standing of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) organized DStv Premier League with a 66-56 points victory over Union Bank basketball club of Lagos.

Union Bank basketball drew the first blood when captain and guard, Azuoma Dike tore apart the defense of the Hoopers to make an easy lay-up while small forward Paul Okojie added another basket to take the lead to four points to nothing in the opening minutes of the highly tactical game played at the Civic Centre in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Union Bank went on to win the first quarter by 16-11 points to set the stage for a pay-back as the Coach Ogoh Odaudu tutored Royal Hoopers who had the fans behind them turned the table against the Rotimi Savage coached Union bank to win the second quarter by 15-10 points to even scores at half-time 26-26.

The atmosphere became charged at the resumption of play after the second quarter break as Royal Hoopers turned the heat on Union Bank with beautiful combinations from Moses Daudu, Anyebe Ujoh, Musa Usman, Yusuf Abubakar and Ikachi Ochoma who were at the element both offense and defense to open up a 13-point lead going into the last quarter as they won the third quarter by 24-11 points.

Though Union Bank tried all it could muster to cut down the margin with good inside play by its forward Onyeka Ekpete but a step-up by Royal Hoopers forward Victor Anthony who appeared unassuming but very effective and two quick three points from Moses Daudu and Moses Daudu ensured that the home team though lot the fourth quarter by 16-19 points to run away with a final score-line of 66-56 points to take its record to 6-2.

Royal Hoopers forward, Victor Anthony led the floor with 15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steal and one block-shot. Musa Usman contributed 12 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds. Yusuf Abubakar added 11 points and 5 rebounds with point guard Moses Daudu grabbing 9 rebounds and giving 5 assists for their victory.

Hoopers Head Coach, Odaudu says the team is committed to its course of qualifying for the FIBA Africa Championship Zone-III elimination as no team will be underrated in the league.

KCC v UCU (5pm)
Women: Nabisunsa v Sparks (3pm)
Today at YMCA
Miracle 91-94 Power
Ndejje 55-59 KIU
Women: KIU 44-61 KCC

Friday night surely left Nimrod Kaboha in between ecstasy and despair. Kaboha, the KIU coach, could have passed for an expressionless face as his two sides got mixed results in the MTN-Fuba League at YMCA court, Wandegeya.

Women’s champions KCC Leopards beat KIU Rangers 61-44 in the early game before the latter’s men’s side, Titans, offered redemption with a narrow 60-56 victory over struggling Ndejje University Angels.

Even a brilliant defensive performance from Rangers failed to keep MVP Miriam Hamala quiet as she sunk a game-high 21 points to stave off an upset. The rollercoaster of emotions was complete when Abraham Juma scored 18 points against Ndejje prompting the latter’s coach Walker Obedi to make an SOS-like call.

“It may take us more than six games to sort out the way we play. The chemistry is not there yet and players are not playing for each other. May be it’s just a bad season,” Obedi said.

In the late game, Power edged hard-fighting Miracle Eagles 94-91. Man-of-the-match Brian Ssentogo had an inconsequential 25 points. Elsewhere, UCU Canons can start to dream of winning all their first round games when they face relegation-threatened KCC Lions this evening.

Ivan Enabu and his younger brother, Jimmy, supported by the experience of Geoff Omondi and battling qualities of Robert Mugabe have propelled UCU to the heights of three seasons ago.

Today at YMCA
Warriors v St. Michael (5pm)
Women
Crane v Nabisunsa (3pm)
Stormers v Amazon (12pm)

The celebrations that engulfed St. Michael High School’s promotion to the MTN-Fuba League Men’s Division one must have fizzled out already.

One victory, earned against fellow promoted side, Berkley, has left St. Michael only second from bottom as the efforts of double-digit regulars Andrew Okot and Daniel Owiyi have become hard to notice. Wounded Kyambogo Warriors cannot let St. Michael whine for too long. The two clash at YMCA court, Wandegeya today.

Defeats to DMark Power and UCU Canons have left champions Warriors in a spot of bother. Injuries to guard Ronnie Kasewu, forward Steven Okias and centre Brian Gumisiriza have dominated coach Gad Eteu’s notebook.

All three in addition to Jude Ochen, who returns after a break to be with family, could play against St. Michael to lessen the burden on Kenyan Martin Okwanko and Tanzanian Abdullah “Dullah” Ramadhan as the rusty duo are yet to click since their return from holiday.

Though Makmot Orom has settled in well, his former Kampala International University (KIU) Titans teammate Michael Kariuki is yet to attain his ‘gun’. Kariuki was KIU’s most valuable player.

HomeSportsSoccer
By Ismail Dhakaba Kigongo

Today at YMCA
Miracle v Power (8.30pm)
Ndejje v KIU (5.30pm)
Women
KIU v KCC (7pm)
Results – Wednesday
UCU 69-63 Riders
Falcons 110-50 Berkley
Women
Crane 23-93 KIU

Victories over Kyambogo Warriors and Mountain Dew Falcons have made DMark Power the team to beat in the MTN-Fuba League as the first round nears its climax.

Barring the loss to UCU Canons, Power have had a near perfect start. Today at YMCA court, Wandegeya, Power have an opportunity to wrap their first round with aplomb against Miracle Eagles.

The game comes on the back of impressive outings last week as Power and Miracle edged Falcons (74-72) and KIU (63-58) respectively. The usual guile of on-song Joseph Ikong, Norman Blick and Ben Komaketch plus the rare steel brought in by Robert Mubiru and David Kiberu has propelled to the summit with 17 points.

Coach Brian Rygyendo’s Miracle, fourth with 14 points, often ride on getting physical in defence and fast breaks. “Players must learn to take their chances because they are not that many in big games,” Rugyendo said.

Elsewhere, Ndejje University face KIU Titans whereas the latter’s women’s side clash with defending champions KCC Leopards. On Wednesday, University side UCU Canons overcame a few jitters to stretch their winning streak to eight games with a 69-63 victory over Knight Riders.

Bit-part guard Steven Mwesigye sunk a team-high 16 points while Sam Rukaire and Ivan Enabu sneaked into double figures with 10 apiece.

Under dim light, Mountain Dew Falcons comfortably resumed normal service with a 110-50 annihilation of newly-promoted Berkley.

The final phase of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) organized Zenith Bank Women Premier League is expected top get underway in Lagos on Thursday as the ten teams vying for honour. According to the time-table release by the secretariat of the Nigeria Basketball ruling body Nigeria Customs Service basketball team who missed in the second phase held in Asaba, Delta State last month will open proceeding against fellow services side Nigeria Immigration basketball club at 08H00.

Other four games billed for the opening day of the final phase will see AHIP Queens of Kano battling it out against title hopeful First Deepwater basketball club of Lagos at 10H00, Sunshine Angels basketball club of Akure who is third after the second phase campaign will take on Dolphins basketball club of Lagos.

Upon resumption of play after a one hour break, defending champion and table leader, first Bank basketball club of Lagos will take to the floor against Plateau Rocks basketball club of Jos at 15H00 while Delta Force basketball club of Asaba will round up Day-1 action against FCT Angels basketball club of Abuja at 17H00.

All the teams are expected to be in Lagos today (Tuesday) while a pre-match/ technical meeting holds Wednesday at the Lagos liaison office of the NBBF.

First Bank, First Deepwater and Sunshine Angels are all tied on same points as the three teams have equal chances of winning the league, the two top teams will represent Nigeria at the FIBA Africa Zone-3 elimination slated for Monrovia, Liberia later in the year.

Kampala

Today at YMCA
Berkley v Falcons (8.30pm)
UCU v Riders (5.30pm)
Women
Crane v KIU (7pm)

The thrill of watching two masters of transitional basketball is the attraction in the MTN-Fuba League at YMCA court, Wandegeya this evening as UCU Canons face Knight Riders. Though similar in style, the two teams are totally different is term of execution and success. As UCU have romped to a perfect seven, Entebbe-based Riders have only won two of their opening eight games.

Unbeaten UCU
With KIU Titans and Mountain Dew Falcons still to come, UCU have a good chance of finishing the first round unbeaten thereby boosting their play-off hopes. In the flamboyance of Ivan and Jimmy Enabu plus bit-part guards Sande Okot and Steven Mwesigye, aided by the experience Geoff Omondi, Riders will need a big performance to stop UCU.

After stuttering to their first defeat of the season, Mountain Dew Falcons are seeking quick response when they face lowly Berkley in the late game. Falcons lost 74-72 to DMark Power on Friday as their star cast struggled to keep up with the pace. Even in the lean contest, Richard Osano Omondi, Bienvenu Ngandu, Sudi Mulunga and Peter Elungat sneaked into double figures.

The quartet will be a handful for a Berkley side yet to win a game in their first season of topflight basketball. Elsewhere, Crane High and KIU Rangers clash in the women’s division.

DRIFTERS are in pole position in the men’s second division standings and are strong contenders for a place in the top flight next year.

Last Friday at Victoria Gymnasium, Anse Boileau-based Drifters collected a 79-63 win over Anse Etoile to stay unbeaten and bring to seven their number of wins at the end of the first round of the two-round championship.

With players like Arnaud Arissol, Frank Seth, Ervin Agathine, Henry Agathine and Trevor Toussaint in their ranks, the team coached by Denis Dodin boast a maximum 14 points.
“Nothing will stop us if we continue on this same momentum,” coach Dodin told Sports Nation.
“We need to stay focused to achieve our goal of playing first division basketball next year,” he added.

Anse Etoile are second with 11 points after four wins and three defeats, while Pointe Larue, who have two matches in hand, are on nine points.

Juniors (8), Beau Vallon Heat (8), LMS Youth (7), Praslin Warriors (7) and AAP Brothers (6) occupy the remaining positions in the eight-team standings.
Although their name still appears in the standings, LMS Youth have been kicked out of the competition after missing two matches.

In the men’s top league, Premium Cobras, with inspirational Nigerian playmaker Michael Ohiero, are unbeaten in seven games for 14 points.
Baya and PLS Hawks are locked on 13 points after they both lost to former champions Cobras. The two teams will meet on Sunday in what promises to be an interesting encounter, and one of them will suffer a second defeat, which will surely put their league ambition in tatters.

MBU Rockers’ 86-65 win over Cascade Bullets was their fifth in seven games and they are fourth on the 10-team table with 12 points.
Having the same win-lose record of 3-5 in eight games for 11 points, the Bullets and Angels are in fourth and fifth places.
RC Dynamics and Mont Fleuri Dawgz are also locked on points –10 – after they each collected three victories in seven games.
Winless in seven outings, Razors and RA Herons look like heading back to the bottom division next season if their fortunes do not change for the better.

Mont Fleuri head the women’s standings with nine points from four wins and a defeat in five games.
Unbeaten in four games, former champions Anse Etoile Stars are hot on their heels with eight points, while outgoing champions HotShots have five after two wins and a loss.

Stars and HotShots will clash on Sunday.

In the event of the Stars winning, they will end the first round unbeaten, putting them in the right frame of mind to reclaim the title. But if HotShots do beat the Stars, it will mean that the three big guns would each have a defeat to their name.

Juniors (five points), RA Sisters (three) and Cadettes (three) occupy the other three places in the standings.
G. G.

The game plan was simply running at their opponents for the entire 40 minutes, enjoying the game along the way.

That is exactly what DMark Power did as they won 76-74 to end the six-game winning streak of the six-time champions Mountain Dew Falcons last Friday in the basketball league.
Falcons start to the season had got many convinced they were infallible but 2008 champions Power disproved that claim in cynical fashion, proving to the rest that Falcons are beatable after all.

They tore them apart bit per bit with their pace and full court press, forcing them to make unnecessary errors and collect a handful of personal fouls on their key players.
Falcons’ lethal weapon Mike Buzangu shot himself in the foot by amassing four personal fouls in the first half alone while skipper Karim Musi was neutralized by the pace of Power players; he had to watch most of the game from the bench.

With Power’s flawless attacks, Falcons didn’t stand a chance of setting any play or creating the post plays where they have been unstoppable.
Skipper Norman Blick, who made the last basket with three seconds on the clock, had a game high 19 points and while defence has been Power’s Achilles Heel all season, Robert Mubiru stepped up to dominate in the painted area and his 13 points were a godsend.
Falcons’ coach Michael Mureithi told The Observer: “my boys failed to play set plays and lost it by trying to play their (Power’s) game. But in all it was a good loss because it’s better to lose when you play badly than to lose when you play well.”

His confirmation that the team played badly leaves the writing on the wall for all the opponents to exploit.
Power was Falcons first major test in the season and they failed it. With Falcons yet to play UCU Canons and defending champions Warriors, which they meet on June 25, Mureithi has to go back to the drawing board if he is to maintain the status of his cosmopolitan team.
Brian Wathum, Power’s assistant coach says; “if you have been watching the way Falcons have been playing from the start, one could easily tell that they are a transiting team…they are not consistent and they change according to what the offense is playing. That is how we knew that we just had to run at them.”
So with Mureithi’s secret unlocked, Gad Eteu, the Warriors coach already has a starting point of cleansing his team from that embarrassing defeat to the Canons. But that can only happen if he takes a leaf from Power’s strategy. UGA

National champions KCB Lions suffered their first loss of the season at the weekend, going down 58-55 against Co-operative Bank of Kenya at the National Stadium.

The game was even early on, with the score tied at 17 to end the first quarter. The Lions edged in front in the second period to lead 34-29 at halftime.

But the Bankers surprised them after the break, outscoring them 21-10 in the third period for a 50-44 advantage and KCB could not make a final push in a low-scoring final frame.

Salim Ali led the way for Co-op, scoring a team-best 13 points. Moses Kamau added 10.

Tobias Onyango had a game-high 15 for KCB who dropped to 4-1.

Meanwhile, Posta beat United States International University (USIU) 70-65 in a close and tough battle.

The mailmen were up 16-13 after the first quarter but the Tigers roared right back in the second to tie the game at 29 at halftime.

Posta regained the upper hand after the break, outscoring their opponents 17-13 in the third period for a 46-42 advantage and they held on by having the upperhand, 24-23, in an action-packed final frame.

The win extended Posta's strong run that sees them in second place with nine points from five matches.

Following the weekend's results, the top three of KCB Lions, Posta and Co-op have all lost one game as the race to top the 12-team table intensifies.

Rising star William Otieno led the Posta with 23 points while Ben Oluoch added 19 points. Arou Chan had 16 for USIU, who have won two of their three matches.

Elsewhere, International Christian Centre (ICC) crushed Blazers 71-45 behind 19 points by Griffin Ligare, while Masinde Muliro University of Agriculture and Technology (MMUST) crushed winless Lomboritz 92-58.

In the women's top flight, reigning champions Eagle Wings were flying high against Predators, crushing them 93-29.

Anastasia Njeri led the Eagles - who blew the game wide open with a 32-3 second quarter - with 28 points. Angela Okoth added 25.

In other games, Mennonites got the better of USIU 68-58, while league leaders Yana managed a hard-fought 42-39 win over a stubborn Strathmore University. Nairobi Aviation College (NAC) cruised past Africa Nazarene University (ANU) 72-30 and Nairobi Pentecostal Church (NPC) were crushed 52-70 by former champions Ulinzi Warriors.

Dann OWERRE
FIBA

Royal Hoopers basketball club of Port Harcourt trip to Lagos the hub of the Atlantic conference of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) organized DStv Premier League proved worthy at the weekend as the Coach Ogoh Odaudu tutored side returned to its base with hundred percent record beating Ebun Comets and Union Bank basketball clubs respectively.

First to fall to the Hoopers was Ebun Comets who lost to the superior fire power of the Hoopers by 63-52 points in a highly tactical game as Coach Odaudu a former player and captain of the Comets style of play so well.

Hoopers won three of the four quarters in the first, third and fourth quarters (24-13, 16-10 and 18-15) while Comets settled for the second quarter with a 14-05 points win as consolation on Saturday.

The Hoopers returned to the centre court of the National Stadium, Lagos on Sunday to take on Union Bank basketball club who had earlier lost to Lagos Islanders basketball club by 89-76 points after over-time in a local derby.

Royal Hoopers entered the game against Union Bank as the under-dog given the pedigree of the Stallion boys who has dropped just one game but turned the table against the Rotimi Savage coached Union Bank winning the first quarter by 19-14 points.

The bankers tried all they could to get back into the game at the resumption of play in the second quarter but meet stiff opposition from the Anyebe Ujoh and Moses Daudu anchored Hoopers back-court to even the second quarter score at 15 points apiece.

Union Bank came back stronger into the game in the third quarter which paid off with a 20-17 points win to reduce between it and the visitor to just two points of 51-49 points going into the last and decisive quarter with Royal Hoopers players playing to the coaches instruction with a combination of good offense and defense to win the quarter by 27-10 points to run away with a 78-59 points win.

Hoopers now lead other teams in the Atlantic conference with 12 points from seven games while Islanders also had a great weekend beating Union Bank basketball club by 89-76 points last Friday with Cameroon-Nigerian small forward William Ndoumbe scoring a season high of 32 points and on Sunday the Islanders returned from where they left off to beat Nigeria Customs Service basketball club by 56-45 points to move to the second spot with 11 points from seven games.

Union bank retained its third position with 10 points from six games pushing down Police Baton who led the conference for two days to fourth place, Delta Force of Asaba, Dodan Warriors of Lagos, Ebun Comets of Lagos and Nigeria Customs occupies the fifth, sixth, seventh and eight positions on the Atlantic conference table where only four teams will make it to the final-8 playoffs.

In the Savannah conference league defending champion, Kano Pillars basketball club have continue to dictate the pace with a 75-51 points win over Plateau Peaks basketball club of Jos at the sports hall of the Sani Abacha Stadium, Kano last Saturday.

Pillars now lead the Savannah conference with 11 points from six games while Kada Stars basketball club of Kaduna proved that its qualification for the playoffs last season when it became the first team in the league to post a centenary point with a 101-65 points whitewashing of Tapgun Rockets basketball club of Jos on Saturday at the sports hall of the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna.

AHIP Giants basketball club of Kano picked her first win of the season with a 68-64 points victory over Plateau Peaks Sunday, the lose further put the aspiration of the Peaks to make it to its fourth consecutive playoffs in jeopardy.

Full results:

Atlantic Conference:

Lagos Islanders 89-76 Union Bank Over-time

Ebun Comets 52-63 Royal Hoopers

Union Bank 59-78 Royal Hoopers

Nigeria Customs 45-56 Lagos Islanders

Savannah Conference:

Kano Pillars 75-51 Plateau Peaks
Tapgun Rockets 65-101 Kada Stars
AHIP Giants 68-64 Plateau Peaks

KADUNA (DStv Premier League) - The fortune of Yelwa Hawks basketball club of Bauchi continued to improve on Tuesday as they earned a well-deserved away win in Kaduna with a 59-56 points victory over Tapgun Rockets at the sports hall of the Ahmadu Bello Stadium.

The side coached by Oche Omuh, who recorded her first win of the season last weekend against Plateau Peaks, brought their Savannah Conference record to 2-3.

The Yelwa Hawks’ club secretary, Adenike Carew believes her team still stands a chance of making it to the final-8 playoffs set to get underway in the first week of September.

Carew attributes the team's optimism to the new-found spirit in camp. She praised club president, Honourable Tanko Dutse for providing the necessary tools to motivate the players to give their best.

She described the away win to Tapgun Rockets as one of the best results to date.
"We are back in the race for a place in the final-8 playoffs, as we are set to fight for one of the four slots from the Savannah conference.
"I think the live coverage of our home game against Plateau Peaks two weeks ago coupled with the new spirit exhibited by the players are responsible for the turning in fortunes.
"We also have our president, Honourable Tanko Dutse to thank for providing us an environment enabling us to strive for success and nothing can stop that marching on."

By Olusegun Ikuesan
FIBA Africa

The Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF has penciled down four cities across the country as possible hosts of the All-Star Weekend, slated for 3rd-4th July and the Final-8 Play-offs.

The cities are Abuja, Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Lagos.

NBBF president, Tijjani Umar says the federation's decision to shortlist four cities was to allow for wide range of choice for the two events.

While Lagos and Port Harcourt are set to stage the All-Star Weekend, Kaduna and Abuja are in the race to stage the Final-8 Play-offs commencing in the first week of September.

The Nigerian Federation boss says the NBBF is determined to make all cities in Nigeria witness the impact of the game.

He congratulated the sixteen clubs participating in the DStv Premier League for raising the standard of the league but believed more still needed to be done to further improve the level to compete favourably among the best in Africa.

He appealed to the country's Corporate organizations to emulate MultiChioce Nigeria owner of DStv and Zenith Bank Plc, who are title sponsors of the Men and Women's leagues, emphasising the federation's determination to take Nigerian basketball to the next level.

By Olusegun Ikuesan
FIBA Africa

Results – Friday
Falcons 72-74 Power
KCC 72-94 Riders
Women
Sparks 56-68 KIU

For a moment, YMCA court, Wandegeya was the closest one could get to the noise levels of the opening day at the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa on Friday.
Not many fans carried the vuvuzela, the symbol of this World Cup, but nonetheless DMark Power’s narrow 74-72 victory over Mountain Dew Falcons in the MTN-Fuba League was well punctuated by awesome support.

In a game where physical approach and psyche proved to be key ingredients, Power stunned Falcons with not only their usual speedy trainsitional play but also willingness compete in the paint against their much bigger opponents.
Coach Andrew Baziira (work) and Isaac Afidra (calf injury) remain absent but Power’s big men, Robert Mubiru and David Kiberu, were on hand to deliver Falcons’ first defeat in seven.

The pain in Norman Blick’s injured left hand was temporarily forgotten as he scored a game-high 19 points. Ben Komaketch (12), enigmatic centre Mubiru (13) and Joseph Ikong (11) joined the double-digit frenzy.

Lacking a productive point guard, Falcons struggled to create plays. Nonetheless, Richard Osano Omondi (18), Bienvenu Ngandu (13), Sudi Mulunga (11) and Peter Elungat (10) frightened the fragile Power hearts.

Earlier, Knight Riders eased their relegation fears with a 94-72 win over fellow strugglers KCC Lions. In the women’s division, KIU Rangers beat Makerere Sparks 68-56

By Timothy Muvunyi

National basketball league

Today

KBC vs Espoir
APR vs Rusizi
KIE vs CSK
UNR vs UGB

Sunday

KBC vs KIE
APR vs UNR
Ferwaba vs CSK
UGB vs Rusizi

KIGALI Basketball Club (KBC) is looking to build on a great league start when they play back to back games against Espoir and Kigali Institute of Education (KIE) this weekend. Last Saturday, the debutants stunned many when they whacked CSK 92-60 at Primature.

“Espoir is a good team but we beat them in the Labour Day tournament and we know we can do it again,” the club coach Callixite Rutajogerwa said.

Another surprising result on the day was UGB’s narrow 52-49 win over reigning defending APR and the former will have themselves when they play National University of Rwanda (UNR) this afternoon and Rusizi tomorrow.

APR are looking to bounce back from their UGB agony when they host Rusizi today.The army side will also lock horns with UNR tomorrow.

Two more games are left in the Preliminaries1 of the Libyan Basketball Cup 2009/2010. Tonight KALED BEN ALWALED will face Al-Nasser, while AL AHLI - BENGHAZI will play versus AL MOROG on Sunday.
In the latest results of June Alshabab overcameAL AHLI - TREPOLI 81:79. Last night AL AHLI - BENGHAZI beat Al-Nasser 83:55.

source africabasket.com

(by Olusegun Ikuesan) africabasket.com
Police Baton basketball club bounced back to the top of the Atlantic conference standing of the Nigeria DStv Premier League with a 70-64 points victory over the Nigeria Customs Service basketball club in a mid-week game.

The Police side look shaky at the beginning of the game going down by 13-21 points to the Scott Nnaji tutored Customs side in the frist quarter effort by the Coach Mark Balogun tutored Police Baton to come into the game in the second quarter could only yield a 13 points apiece for both side with Customs going into the break with a 34-26 points advantage.

The Police Baton turned the heat on the third quarter to open up a five points lead with a 28-15 points win in the third quarter and consolidated it hold on the leadership in the fourth quarter which ended by 16-15 points in its favour for a cumulative scores of 70-64 points.

Earlier in the day Union Bank basketball club wade off a stiff challenge from Ebun Comets basketball to escape with a 69-63 points to climb to the third place of the Atlantic conference.

The banker won the first, second and fourth quarter (14-08, 14-12 and 25-20) while the former Nigerian champion (Ebun Comets) picked the third quarter by 23-16 points with Union Bank forward Onyeka Ekpete proving very reliable in the paint grabbing 13 rebounds while compatriots Samson John and Azuoma Dike netting 14 points each.

Comets youthful guard Obum Onyia scored game high of 23 points to lead other players in scoring.

By Ismail Dhakaba Kigongo

Today at YMCA
Falcons v Power (8.30pm)
Riders v KCC (5.30pm)
Women: KIU v Sparks (7pm)
Results – Wednesday
UCU 98-70 St. Michael
KIU 58-63 Miracle
Women: UCU 36-91 Bucks
Crane 29-110 A-1 Challenge

At the start of the MTN-Fuba League season, writing off Mountain Dew Falcons was an oat meal but DMark Power, whom they face at YMCA court, Wandegeya this evening know it isn’t.

A massive exodus only spelt doom for the six-time champions as hardly did anyone know where Falcons were headed after stars Henry and Eric Malinga (Warriors) plus Steven Omony (free agent), with five MVP crowns between them, jumped ship.

To keep true to the third law of motion in physics which is stated as ‘action and reaction are equal and opposite,’ Falcons recruited massively across the East African region to stay competitive.

This has translated into a six-match winning streak as Mike Buzangu, Richard Osano Omondi, Karim Aine Nkusi, Bienvenu Ngandu and Cedric Siraninzi have become instant hits.
However, Power, beaten once this season, cannot be overawed as a cast Norman Blick, Ben Komaketch, Isaac Afidra, Boniface Okello and mercurial Joseph Ikong are formidable on their day.

“This is the kind of game we look forward to every other season,” Blick, who is been playing through pain in his left hand to stay fit, said.

JOMO Kenyatta University of Agriculture (JKUAT) made a storming start to the league when they won their three matches at Railways Club over the weekend.

Late inclusion JKUAT beat Madison 56-41 in a fiercely contested show. The students were pepped by Gaetano Ondipo who posted 16 points with Petyer Ondipo chipping in with 15. For the losing side, Fidel Ogolla netted 13 while Joram Ogol added 12.

In the first of their other two games, JKUAT rolled over Little Prince 60-39 in a game that saw John Ayom lead the scoring tally with 19 points and Ondipo nailing 12. Collins Omondi was the Little Prince's main scorer as he poured in 11.

An impressive and balanced attacking display saw them also brushed Balozi aside 62-31, with Ronnie Otieno leading the way with 20 points, while Ondipo added 14 and Kibuya 12. Balozi's Given Walengu and David Wainaina were kept below double figures.

The other team on a roll is Upper Hill School. They overcame Nairobi Deaf Kings (NDK) 68-20. By the half-time break Upper Hill had opened up a led of 36-8. Collins Ochieng shot 22 points and Joseph Gichuki added 11, while for NDK Dan Kisiangani posted 14.

Ochieng was good for another 26 points as he lead Upper Hill in a hard fought 70-63 battle against Don Bosco, who gave as good as they got. Don Obiga collected 25 points for the losing side.

Legacy came back from a 25-26 half-time deficit to triumph in a close encounter, beating Sauna 62-61 in an entertaining game. Daniel Odhiambo scored 14 points, backed up by Kelvin Mutai who scored 13. Sauna had the game's top scorer in John Otieno who nailed 16, while Alex Okutoi who scored 14.

Charles Odhiambo showed the way with 18 points guiding Sauna to a 49-35 triumph over Balozi. The Legacy versus Old Pirates game was cancelled due to rain and will be rescheduled at a later date.

KAA and Starthmore remain at the top of the table with 18 and 16 points respectively.

In the ladies matches, World Hope dismissed JKUAT 32-20. The students were pegged back 5-20 at half time but did well in the second. Catherine Magina nailed 11 while Mercy Bwore added nine for the victors.

Written by Felix Eupal
Wednesday, 09 June 2010 17:57

Before the start of the basketball season, several leading pundits were preparing to pen down the epitaph of Falcons, Uganda’s most successful. After all, they had lost virtually the entire starting team and looked every inch disorganised. However, with almost a quarter of the season gone, Falcons have made many to eat the proverbial humble pie.

Six games played, six wins; most points made (536), least points conceded (328) – the best in the league. Put simply, Michael Mureithi’s charges are sailing in a spaceship as they intimidate and belittle opponents with blocks, shattering rebounds and rim braking slams.
This Friday, they face the biggest test of the season against table leaders and 2008 champions DMark Power at the YMCA grounds.


There are only three players that stayed behind from last season’s team; 2003 MVP Sam Obol, Peter Elungat and Ronnie Kalule and they’ve got sad memories of falling to Power at the playoffs two years ago and losing twice to the same team last season.
The rest of the Falcons players will be out to achieve the ultimate goal of cementing their status as favourites and maintaining the winning streak. Mureithi says; “our game plan is to cool their [Power’s] tempo and slow them down. This way we will force them to play as a team instead of using individual brilliance.”


Indeed, Power edge Falcons and the rest of the competition in mobility. They can run at the opposition tirelessly for 40 minutes while Falcons relies heavily on composure to check stubborn offenses – the same way they conquered Nkumba Marines.
But even with this in mind, Power will need to do the one thing that that they have never done best to ensure that they avoid a second loss. That is to play zero-tolerance defence.
Boniface Okello will have to ensure that Falcons star Mike Buzangu doesn’t tear apart them apart like he has done to the rest. On the other hand, Carroll Bisereko will need to pull out his A game to stop Richard Omondi, who has been registering double figures for the past three games.
Meanwhile Joseph Ikong, who had 42 points against Berkeley has to keep up with his explosive offense to keep Falcons busy at the back.
Not forgetting last year’s top scorer Isaac Afidra, the talisman has been off form this season and has failed to even register more than 10 points in any game so far. There is no better moment for him to redeem himself.


Power Skipper Norman Blick says; “our team is not going to focus on setting any plays but we will be out to enjoy the game and get the win.” He adds that “the most intriguing thing is that we are playing a team made up of foreigners and none of us has ever played the other.”

Kampala

Today at YMCA
St. Michael v UCU (8.30pm)
KIU v Miracle (5.30pm)
Women
Lady Bucks v UCU (7pm)

Four wins from their opening eight games of the MTN-Fuba League have left KIU Titans and Miracle Eagles with 12 points, just outside the play-off positions. Much as they have the same number of points as UCU Canons, who occupy the fourth and final play-off position, there is little comfort for fifth-placed KIU and Miracle, one place lower.

The latter two clash at YMCA court, Wandegeya this evening with winner earning the right to breath down Canons’ neck. In recognising KIU’s defensive attributes, Miracle coach Brian Rugyendo cautioned his side to avoid wastefulness.

“Players must take their chances because they are not that many against KIU,” Rugyendo, who is without Albert Aciku and Caesre Kizito as the pair suffer from illness, said.
Nimrod Kaboha’s KIU side have so far failed to convert brilliant starts to games as they have the knack to fade.

Meanwhile, on-form UCU who beat Kyambogo Warriors 91-79 last week have a chance to stretch their winning sequence when they face St. Michael.

Reigning Nigeria Premier League Champion, Kano Pillars basketball club at the weekend regain the leadership of the Savannah conference of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) organized DStv Premier League with a 68-62 points win away from home. With the weekend win away to Niger Potters basketball club of Minna, the Nigeria champion now shot back to the top of the Savannah conference with 9-points for a 4-1 record.

Though the Coach Sani Ahmed tutored side shared the same points and record with second placed Bauchi Nets basketball club Pillars enjoyed more points average of 1.220 against Nets 1.143.

In the third placed in the Savannah conference is 2007 FIBA Africa Champions Cup fifth placed team, Niger Potters basketball club of Minna with a 3-2 record and 8-points while Kada Stars basketball club of Kaduna climb to fourth place with its 86-80 points victory over Plateau Peaks basketball club of Jos at the weekend.

Leading the fray in the Atlantic conference is Delta Force basketball club of Asaba with 9-points, though the temporary topping of the Atlantic conference table by Delta Force was because they have played more games than any other team in the conference.

The Warri-based Delta Force coached by Emmanuel Olowu have played seven games won two and lost five, in second place is Port Harcourt-based Royal Hoopers basketball club who is with a 3-2 record and 8-points same points and record as third placed Dodan Warriors basketball club of Lagos who ended Police Baton unbeaten run at the weekend in a local derby in Lagos by 88-83 points to leap from fifth place to third.

Police Baton is now fourth on the Atlantic conference table with 7-points, Lagos Islander basketball club is fifth no thanks to its weekend 55-59 points lose to rejuvenated Ebun Comets basketball club of Lagos .

Tapgun Rockets basketball club of Jos will take its turn Tuesday when it hosted Yelwa Hawks basketball club of Bauchi at the sports hall of the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna . Tip-off time is 16H00

And in Lagos two local derbies are on the bill on Wednesday with Union Bank basketball club hope to continue its unbeaten run in the entire league when it takes on Ebun Comets basketball club at 16H00 while Police Baton will engage Nigeria Customs basketball club who is still searching for a winning formula at 18H00, both games hold at the sports hall of the national stadium, Lagos.

Weekend results

Atlantic conference:
Union Bank 82-78 Delta Force
NGR Customs 61-65 Delta Force
Lagos Islanders 55-59 Ebun Comets
Police Baton 83-88 Dodan Warriors

Savannah Conference:
Niger Potters 62-68 Kano Pillars
Kada Stars 86-80 Plateau Peaks

By: Olusegun Ikuesan
FIBA Africa