Basketball in Africa

The East & Central Africa Inter-Cities Championships will take place from the 19th to 23rd April, 2011 in Nairobi city, Kenya. The event, which will be held at the Nyayo National Gymnasium, is set to attract teams from Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Somalia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Several teams have already confirmed participation, this include:

+ Nairobi City (Kenya) – Men and Women
+ Universities Combined Team (Kenya) – Men and Women
+ Mombasa City (Kenya) – Men and Women
+ Dar es Salaam City (Tanzania) – Men and Women
+ Mwanza City (Tanzania) – Men and Women
+ Arusha City (Tanzania) - Men and Women
+ Kampala City (Uganda) – Men and Women
+ Juba City (South Sudan) – Men and Women
+ Mogadishu City (Somalia) – Men
+ Hargesia City (Somalia) – Men

Confirmations of teams from Lusaka (Zambia), Harare (Zimbabwe), Entebbe and Jinja (Uganda) and Tanga (Tanzania) are being awaited.
Charges for entry for the event are as follows: VIP (where the official table seats) Kshs 200, to the Left and Right of the VIP Kshs 100 and any other seating area Kshs 50.
There will cash prizes for winning teams and runners up, and cash awards for winners of the 3-point shooting competition and the dunking contest.

The ever green Joyce Makungu scored 18 points and Salam Akinyi 19 as KPA women’s basketball team overran KCA University 85-19. The men’s team were also 79-60 winners over a spirited Thunders. Tony Okello (28) and Samuel Odera (18) top-scored for KPA.

On Saturday, KCB Lions scored a big 74-50 win over KPA with Tobias Onyango scoring an impressive 27 points.

Storms continued their fine run in the league by beating Mennonites 50-36 on Saturday. Faustina Maundu had 14 points for Storms and Linet Atieno 16 for Mennonites.

In the meantime, club officials are have urged KBF to ensure that the money paid by clubs should be solely used for running the league and in a professional way. A joint letter to KBF obtained by sportsnewsarena.com asked the league committee to work out a budget for the entire league which include payment of venue, referees, crowd entertainment, security, match balls and bibs (in case of team color clash). They suggested a cash reward for teams and individuals who have been exceptional during the season instead of trophies and medals.

Referees have been on the receiving end because of not being paid their dues. Only a gew die-hard referees officiate for free. “Gate collection monies should not be a measure of how much the refs should be paid because they( refs) are not responsible for the spectator turn out,” the statement reads. The officials have also urged KBF to look for sponsors for the league and major tournaments. Each team pays Sh38,000 league fees.
Results
Sunday:
Trail Blazers 50 Umoja 34
Trail Blazers: Robert Andiwo (10), Shem Otieno 11
Umoja: Rogers Mbati (14 points).

Kenya Airports Authority 50 Nairobi Aviation 42
KAA: Kevin Otieno 11, Geoffrey Ssozi 11, Evan Omondi 10.

Eagle Wings 87 Mennonites 24
Eagle Wings: Evelyn Nora 16, Shani Silalei 10.

Co-Op Bank 35 KPA 48
Co-Op: Caroline Achieng 11, Caroline Ouma 10.
KPA: Brenda Angeshi 23

Thunders 60 KPA 79
Thunders: Edgar Kisali 21, Job Omune 14
KPA: Tony Okello 28, Samuel Odera 18.

Saturday:
World Hope 75 Africa Nazarene University (ANU) 50
World Hope: Evans Orenge 14, Brian Kowino 11
ANU: Andrew Kihumba 18, Marsden Obure 16.

Storms 50 Menonnites 36
Storms: Faustina Maundu 14
Menonnites: Lynet Atieno 16

KCA 19 KPA 85
KPA: Joyce Makungu 18, Salam Akinyi 19, Brenda Angeshi 11
KCB Lions 74 KPA 50
KCB Lions: Tobias Onyango 27
Freddy Otieno 11
Eric Odanga

Abel Nson scored 15 points to steer Co-Operative Bank to a narrow 63-57 win over United States University - Africa Tigers in a Kenya Basketball Federation men’s Premier league match at the Nyayo Stadium on Sunday.

The banker led 33.29 in this closely contested match. Other top scorers for Co-Operative bank were Mike Makiadi (11 points and Mark Mayen (10). Evans Leting was the top points scorer for the students on 18 while Chris Mulumba had 14.

In the women’s Premier league, Co-Operative Bank rallied from 31-35 down at half time to overcome USIU-A Flames 63-60. Carol Ochieng’ scored an impressive 32 points for the bankers and Irene Wafula 12. Zippora Odhiambo replied with 21 for USIU-A Flames while Sara Chan had 16. Mennonites beat KCA University 62-54.

University of Nairobi Terrorists banked on Bill Oketch (20 points) and Brian Namalata (16) to beat Trail Blazers 69-54. Body Abuya (16) and Ian Wachie (11) replied for Trail Blazers.

The match between Ulinzi and Posta was not played. Posta have been unable to get sponsorship for the league. Their soccer counterparts were however lucky to secure a Sh6 million sponsorship from Safaricom.

Summarized results

1.Co-op Bank 63/33 Vs Tigers USIU-A 57/29

Mike Makiadi 11pts Chris Mulumba 14pts
Abel Nson 15pts Evans Leting 18pts
Mark Mayen 10pts
2.KCA- 54 Vs Mennonites 62 (Women Premier)

3.Co-op Bank 63/31 Vs USIU Flames 60/35 (Women premier)
Carol Achieng 32pts Zipora Odhiambo 21pts
Irene Wafula 12pts Sarah Chan 16pts

4.Trail Blazers 54 Vs Terrorsists 69
Ian Wachie 11pts Bill Oketch 20pts
Body Abuya 16pts Brian Namalata 16pts

NATIONAL champions Co-operative Bank of Kenya are still the team to beat in the Premier League title race this year. Team manager Emmanuel Agunda warned that the bankers are determined to stamp their authority on the local scene as they position themselves for the Kenyan and the zone 5 club titles. This team is still the best and will once again show their might as the league progresses. We proved that by coming from behind to beat KCB Lions over the weekend, said Agunda. Co-op rallied from 21 points down to stun KCB Lions 64-57 in another top clash at Nyayo Stadium gymnasium last weekend, a feat that excited Agunda and the bankers technical bench. Lions roared to 43-23 cushion on a slam by Yoni Wanambiro (191-F-80) before going to an inexplicable slump. Salim Ali, Mayien, Mike Makiadi (199-F/C) and Titus Musembi effort saw Co-op charge right back into contention. Musembi hit a clutch three for 38-43, Mayien completed a three point play at 41-43 and banked another shot that locked the duel 43-43. A bewildered Lions struggled from all corners committing turn overs at will. Co-op then dominated the match through Alis impressive display to race up to a 56-46 lead with their Lions losing their cool completely.
Courtesy of: Nairobi Star

By Usher Komugisha

Basketball’s governing body-FERWABA is set to organize a pre-season tournament that kicks off on April 1-3 at Amahoro indoor stadium court.

The event will renew rivalry among the game’s top rivals, reigning champions National University of Rwanda (NUR), record holders APR, Espoir, CSK as well as defending champions as the event commences at Amahoro stadium on April 1 and the rest at Green Hills Academy on April 2-3.
“The tournament will take place as scheduled, however, games on the weekend will be at Green Hills Academy because Amahoro has been booked for another occasion,” said Didier Shema-Maboko, the federation’s technical director.
APR will be seeking to revive their domestic sphere of influence by winning everything, however, hard work on their rivals’ side especially Kigali Basketball Club (KBC) will sure give them a run for their money.
In what has seemed like an unusual quiet transfer season, lack of team chemistry will be unheard of from teams as an excuse for losing at this event.

In the women’s category, National University of Rwanda (NUR) will sound an early warning to arch-rivals and regional giants APR after an almost one-sided season last year.

The build-up tournament should give an insight on the teams to look out for this season, which is scheduled to start in the first week of May. KCB are the champions.

Brown Msyani
The Citizen Correspondent
Dar es Salaam. The RBA League curtain was brought down yesterday with JKT adding silverware to their cabinet after beating ABC 59-37in a thrilling game at the National Indoor Stadium.The tension-packed duel was a minute per minute thriller with JKT showing all signs of clinching the trophy from the ouset.

JKT will thank their hard-working player Agamu Jegame who scored 20 baskets to inspire his team to a resounding victory.The new champions embarked on the match briskly and scored in quick succession, notching 12 points, but ABC fought back to cut the deficit to two.

The second half started with ABC picking from where they left to burry nine more baskets while JKT notched five only, thus going into the breather trailing by four points (19-15).The play resumed with ABC breaking forward almost at will, but their pace did not last long before JKT regained their composure.

The champions took the game to ABC and managed to add 24 points against six scored by the highly extolled army team.ABC defence continued to break up in the fourth quarter, which gave JKT an easy task of jabbing the ball in. They scored 20 points while ABC got 12 only.

Frank Kusiga scored 14 points for winners while ABC’s Gilbert Batungi, who was well marked, managed 10 points tying with his teammate Juma Kisocky. In the third-place playoff, which pitted the pre-tournament favourites Pazi against Vijana, saw the former claim a 73-54 victory.

Pazi went to the court oozing with confidence, but could not dominate proceedings as they battled to 16-16 in the first quarter.In the second quarter, both sides attacked and defended cautiously, but still no team could have bragging rights as they tied 17-17.

Things started going astray for the losers in the third quarter when they scored eight points while conceding 18 before conceding 22 against 13 in the final quarter.Cray Bonny, who was a constant menace to Vijana guards, buried 16 points for his side.Despite Mpoki Jail’s brilliance in shooting, his 19 points did not save Vijana from a big margin defeat.In the women’s event, Jeshi Stars outlasted JKT Stars to successfully defend their title by winning 53-50 in well-contested game at the same venue.

The losers controlled the better part of the match but cracked midway the third quarter allowing Jeshi Stars to swoop and kill off the match.

Until the halftime break, the back-to back champions were leading by 27-17.After the recess, JKT Stars looked rejuvenated, but lost steam midwayThey, however, refused to back down, troubling Jeshi Stars guards in the fourth quarter, but their efforts were to no avail.

By Prudence Phiri

SHELLS basketball team on Saturday beat Unza Honeys 65-60 to retain the national championship.

The game that was played at Olympic Youth Development Centre (OYDC) saw Shells start on a shaky note and lose their first quarter 12-14.
Shells picked form in the second quarter of the game to record a 14-8 score to set themselves on a winning path.
Shells struggled in the third quarter and went down 15-20 before winning the final quarter 24 -18 to retain the title.
The games that had been played on the best of three format saw Shells beat Unza Honeys 95-60 in the first round played a week ago.
Shells coach Francis Mwelwa said the team was made to work hard to win the title.
He said Honeys were playing well and gave his side a good run.
''It was a tough game but I'm happy Honeys are playing well. This shows that there is progress in women basketball,” Mwelwa said.

He said his team would now focus on preparing for the Zone Six games, where they will represent the country.
“We won't lose track; we will continue training. We are representing the country at the Zone Six again this year. We need a lot of support, we need the corporate world to come on board and help us,'' Mwelwa said.
Unza coach Cuthbert Tembo said he was happy with his team’s performance despite losing.
“What matters is progress. Last season we only reached the semifinals and this year we have gone to the finals. It shows the team is developing and it’s a youthful team which has a lot of potential,” Tembo said.

In the men's category, defending champions Unza Pacers forced a third round play-off after they beat Matero Magic 78-74 on Saturday.
Magic beat Pacers 86-80 in the first round played a week ago but failed to replicate their performance to get the title.
Yesterday the two sides were locked in a final play-off to determine the ultimate winner.

DEFENDING Zambia Basketball Association league champions UNZA Pacers at the weekend lost to Matero Magic in their first game of the best of three semi-finals in the 2010/2011 championships.

Pacers, who were very confident of carrying the day, were humbled 80-72 in a tightly contested fixture played at the National Sports Development Centre (NASDEC).

In the other men's first semi final, Green Eagles beat LCC Looters 96-87.
The Lovemore Sikaale-tutored Looters displayed their usual refined skills, but their rivals looked more enduring and played a basic game to carry the day.

Magic and Eagles will be guaranteed places in the final if they continue their winning ways against Pacers and Looters respectively in the second semi-finals next weekend.

In the ladies category, defending champions Shells beat UNZA Honeys 95-60, while LCC Lotresses narrowly defeated Buffaloes by a single point, 77-76.

(by Olusegun Ikuesan) africabasket.com
.......Usman crown MVP, Terry, Ikonshul also win

It was pay back time for the Atlantic conference at the 2010/2011 DStv Premier Basketball League All-Star Game as Savannah conference ran away with an 86-73 (24-19, 16-19, 23-17, 23-18) points victory at the Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Abuja on Saturday.

The Savannah conference coached by the duo of Coaches Sani Ahmed of Kano Pillars and Sani Turi of Kada Stars won three out of the four quarters to reclaim the All-Star Game title having lost by 82-93 points in the 2009/2010 season in kaduna.

Savannah conference and reigning DStv PBL most valuable player, Abubakar Usman led the floor with 32 points, 4 rebounds and two assists to retain the MVP tittle he won last year while his teammate Ibrahim Yusuf contributed 10 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists for the Savannah conference win of the night.

Mohammed Bukar led the Atlantic conference in scoring with 17 points with Azuoma Dike and Musa Usman contributing 14 and 11 points respectively.

The Three-Point shooting contest was won by Yelwa Hawks basketball club of Bauchi Combo-guard, Timothy Terry who scored 17 of the 25 balls within 60 seconds time allocated each of the contestants while Godwin Ikonshul of the Dodan Warriors basketball club displayed a rare skill with a superb dunk to win the Slam-Dunk contest with 48-point.

Managing Director of MultiChoice Nigeria, Joseph Hundah, praised the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) for making the ALL-STAR Weekend a permanent feature of the federation annual programme.

He reiterated the sponsor commitment to the continuous sponsorship and development of basketball in Nigeria.

The event was graced by top sports personalities with Dorector of Sport Development of the National Sports Commission, Al-Hassan Yakmut representing the NSC and the Sports Minister, Engineer Sani Ndanusa stood in for the Nigerian Olympic Committee (NOC) family among other dignitaries.

Women... Reformers63, Holy Family 46
Easy win for the Reformers' ladies if you ask. Holy Family started the game with fairly balanced competition even without Dionne who showed up a little too late to bring any positive change to her team's plight. Reformers actually won the game in the second quarter when they blew past HF to the take the quarter at 23 - 03.

Warriors 60, Magic 49
I expected a little bit too much from the Magic team, knowing that their loss to Warriors last season was just a point. Anyone who was at Lebanon House Friday afternoon will agree that, the amount of hustle in Magic's play didn't reflect that much on the score board. But then that's basketball; hustle and get the points at the same time. There's so much that can be said about this game, from the ton of turnovers committed(total 50 by both sides) and free throws missed(total of 9 0f 30)
by both sides to Pajero's facial on Theo, to Theo's own good hustle to block Abu's breakaway lay up after committing the turnover in the front court. Warriors did a good job of slowing down the game in the 4th, which definitely affected Magic's play because it was evident they couldn't find a rhythm to end the game even though they closed up to 9 points at a stage. Other players that impressed today were Abu(3 of 4) and Mustapha(2 of 2) who hit a couple of well selected treys for the Warriors team even though they played significant minutes.

(by Olusegun Ikuesan)
Nigeria and Kano Pillars basketball club legendary guard, Abubakar Usman is leading the Savannah conference challenge of this weekend All-Star Game holding tomorrow
(Saturday) at the Sport Hall of the National Stadium, Package-B, Abuja.

Usman who was selected alongside three of his Pillars teammates is set to power the Savannah conference over the Atlantic this time out.

Usman and his Savannah conference teammates must be at their best in order to hold off the Atlantic conference who rallied to a 93-82 points win in the 2010 All-Star Game
held in Kaduna.

Leading the challenge from the Atlantic conference is Comets point guard and 2006 Nigeria U18 National team captain, Orseer Ikyaator as the regular season of the DStv
Premier Basketball League take a one week break.

The Savannah conference will be led from the torchline by Nigeria senior national team coach and Kano Pillars Sani Ahmed while the Atlantic conference will be tinker by
Nigeria U18 Men national team Assistant Coach and Royal Hoopers basketball club Head Coach, Ogoh Odaudu.

Other players who made the All-Star list includes Ibrahim Yusuf, Mathew Onmonya, Dele Ademola and Onyeka Okeke from Kano Pillars; Adeolu Olaiya Ojo, Abdulwahab

Yahaya and Abubakar Yusuf from Kada Stars; Abdulwahab Yakubu of Bauchi Nets; Peter Echoi made the list from Yelwa Hawks while former Nigeria Junior international Abel Baraya of Plateau Peaks and Shehu Mohammed of Niger Potters basketball club complete the list.

Making the Atlantic conference list alongside Ikyaator are, Mohammed Bukar, Godwin Ikonshul, Jacob Ogenyi and Romaric Ludivic from Dodan Warriors; Michael Ohiero,
Musa Usman, Azuoma Dike and Abayomi Oyeniyi from Royal Hoopers basketball club; Kayode Balogun and Tosin Mehinti from Islanders with Godspower Igben of Union Bank basketball club making the list.

A 3-point shooting and Slam Dunk contest will preceed the All-Star Game. The 3-point shooting and dunking contest will not be defended by the 2010 winners, Shola
Alayande and Mathew Eseigbe as both did not enter for the contest this year.

The 3-point contest draw six contestants and these includes Timothy Terry of Yelwa Hawks, Abdulwahab Yakubu of Bauchi Nets, Sabo Gabriel of Niger Potters, Azuoma Dike of Royal Hoopers, Oladipupo Osunnubi Dodan Warriors and Obum Darlington Onyia Comets basketball club.

Six dunkers are also on the line-up to thrill the fans and they include; Mathew Agbo-Agbah of Tapgun Rockets, Bright Akhuete of Bauchi Nets, Innocent Dinshal of Kano Pillars, Williams Ndoumbe and Adeola Alade from Union bank and Musa Usman of Royal Hoopers basketball club.

Events of the day according to the Organising Committee will start at 14H00 with the shooting contest followed by the slam dunk contest while the All-Star Game is expected
to jump-start at 16H00 with FIBA Graded referee Babatunde Popoola leading two other FIBA Africa Graded referee, Ado Ahmadu and Ibrahim Hassan taking charge of the
game.

Women... Turbo Jets 38, Magic 42
This same game started the W last season, but with a few changes made to both teams this time around. Magic ladies was the better side again, while the Jets showed improvement as the game was not very much one sided like last year's. Very good additions to the Magic team; Aisha, Gwynne and Korro have brought a fair amount of size and understanding of the game to the already good team. So call them better! Anybody watching the game should have obviously noticed the number of "coaches"(persons shouting out instructions) that Magic had. Too much yelling for a team that's not so bad, maybe they should talk to the Jets' coaches to get some info on how to stay composed during games, the man was still cool even when his side was drifting. And then I was very disappionted in the man who was actually on the Magic bench as the coach, Francis Wilson(Soweto). His behaviour towards his own players and the refs(which resulted in him being ejected) was just out of range and highly unnecessary.


D1... Reformers 68, Police 77
Reformers won this match up last year at the same venue(on their home court)58 - 48. Police won this time. Why? Police stayed on the court and got better while I don't know what they(Reformers) did. Very exciting game if you ask me and my panelists( you know yourselves). Kay's one handed put back dunk on the Reformers defense was the most exciting play of the game, but forget fancy plays. Police impressed me a lot with a couple of new plays they introduced in their offense, even though the plays had their own technical flaws, I was just excited that another team has embraced the need to run plays and not just allow the offense to happen like in a pick up game. Emeric and Dickson did the do for Police when needed most. For me, Agbesi was the only bright spot in the Reformers team; dishing out his dimes as usual and knocking down a couple of deep 3's. The team needs a serious revival if they still want to stay among the elite in the L. Can't forget the "attempting to hit, is hitting" on ref Frank by Police forward, Prince. Not an incident we'll like to see occur frequently on our courts but I think some of the refs should get their acts right, sometimes the flaws committed are little bit disheartening for the players to absorb without reacting. That in no way guarantees players to also react unnecessarily after calls.

The final at the UCU invitational tourney held at the Mukono University campus was an exciting one . The final was between hosts UCU and Ndejje University Angels with the hosts coming out winners with a 74:63 score board. UCU have now underlined their intentions to battle for the league title after managing only the 3rd place last year. Among their ranks now is, Sudi Ulanga (also voted tournament's MVP) the former Falcon pointguard, Martin Okwako formerly of Warriors and for say, the tournament’s revelation is UCU’s signing of Kenyan National team feature of Center Desmond Owillu. Owillu is a huge destructive force both offensively and defensively. The Enabu brothers Ivan and Jimmy were electrifying on the night with trademark pace, shooting and assists amidst crazing UCU home fans.

UCU has a lot of players at its disposal and the young coach, also 2010’s most promising coach Nicholas is getting even better. In fact, it has been revealed that Robert Mugabe the former UCU playmaker and Sam Lukaire will settle for playing with the UCU JV which is the Div II outfit for the university. It is amazing how fast this team has achieved chemistry and the versatility in the squad were evident.

UCU narrowly defeated Miracle 53:51 in the semi final. Miracle was definitely another team to look out for ahead of the tournament but unfortunately, the vast number of injuries in the squad prevented us from witnessing their full potential. Currently, playmaker, Stephen Omony is out with a knee injury and is likely to stay out for over a month. The legendary player was not totally out of action though has he stood in as coach. Miracle are currently without coach after Brian Rugyendo’s resignation last year. Richard Omondi Osanoh will also be out for approximately 4 weeks after suffering a wrist injury on day one of the tourney. Edwin Katerega was equally out of the tournament after suffering a torn tendon during the recently concluded MUK Open. Also injured is Collin Mukiza and Albert Aciko.

In the absence of the players, new signing Peter Elungat was a force to recognize. For Miracle, the tourney helped the much younger players , the likes of Caesar Kizito, Douglas Uwizera, Bajjunga Ronald , Yahya Kalyesubula and veteran Chris Kyebanzi to take the center stage. Brian Sentongo put up a no-show despite confirmation that the center is still under contract at Eagles. Sentongo has been linked to a move to Ndejje.

The revelation for Ndejje was their signing from Falcon, Emmanuel Ateng who was also named the tourney’s regular MVP. Also known as Etti, he took the center stage last year during the playoffs but the young shooting guard is not turning back and is stepping up his act. The other force in Ndejje will be point guard Daniel Muli. Standing under 6 feet, the guard is a good shooter, has good vision for a passer and also has quick feet. Obedi Walker’s Ndejje can still count on their hard fighting spirit and teamwork to continue their stay in Ugandan top flight basketball.

KIU has had a few new faces. With the departure of center Farouq to returnees Charging Rhinos, Joshua Etalu from Warriors is the replacement and playmaker Olobo Moses will still be available for Coach Nimrod Kaboha.

Charging Rhinos and MUK Heaters had a simulation of the renewed DIV I taste both teams making it as far as the quarters in the tournament. Charging Rhinos have signed Michael Kojo, the former Dmark Power forward and centers Farouq from KIU and Akitah Herbert from the defunct KCC Lions. The Rhinos notably defeated runners up Ndejje in the opening round but they were exited by KIU 50:34 in the quarter finals. Similarly, Heaters were exited by Miracle 73:63 at the same stage.

Warriors, Falcon and league champs Power did not participate despite their invitations. Information about these three Ugandan basketball giants has merely been speculative. The most elusive though is Falcon, Apparently, their players are featuring for other teams and there exists no evidence of their recruitment. When I reached, Sam Obol, arguably the most reliable source now on Falcon, he hinted that Falcon will always be a competing power in Ugandan basketball top league has as always been, he argued me and you to “watch the space”. Hopefully , Falcon can never run out of surprises!!

Dmark Power also still has some shortcomings , with claims of several players’ contracts not renewed. Notably, reigning MVP Ben Koma, Norman Blick, Joseph Ikong , Donald Blick are all free agents. Several of these players are linked with moves to Warriors.

Information about Warriors’ preps for the new season are also not so coming but what we know is that Martin Okwako will not feature for them, Joshua Etalu is at KIU and Abdullahi Ramadhani’s return to Kampala is so very doubted. Also, Coach Gad Eteu is still under new contract negotiations at Warriors and we can not confirm his status now.

In related events, the UCU Lady Canons emerged the winners in the ladies category with a win over KCC Leopards in the finals, 44:37. and The reigning league MVP Maureen Amonding was once again named the tourney's MVP.

The Best 5's

Women:
PG: Angella Namirimu (UCU)
SG: Amoding Maureen (UCU)
SF: Etyang Mercy (KIU)
PF: Diana Nakanjako (Lady Bucks)
C: Odhiambo Purity (UCU)
Men:
PG: Jeff Omondi (UCU)
SG: Sudi Ulanga (UCU)
SF: Ateng Emma (Ndejje)
PF: Peter Elungat (Miracle)
C: Wati Brian (KIU)
Article By Cucu .E .Brian

By Majuto Omary
The Citizen Reporter
Dar es Salaam. For Dar es Salaam basketball fans, the National Indoor Stadium is a place to go on Sunday as it hosts the RBA League final between ABC and JKT.Acting Dar es Salaam regional commissioner Sadick Meck Sadiq will be the chief guest at what promises to be a mouth-watering final.

The anxiously awaited duel will be preceded by women’s RBA final pitting traditional foes Jeshi Stars against JKT Stars.ABC booked a place in the final at the expense of Pazi while JKT cruised through after overcoming pre-tournament favourites Vijana in the second semi-final at the same venue last weekend.
Dar es Salaam Basketball (DB) official Mbaga Mwamboma said yesterday that preparations for the two finals were on course.
“The women’s final between Jeshi Stars and JKT Stars will start at 2pm while the match of the day between ABC and JKT will start two hours later,” Mwamboma said.The day will also see women’s teams Police and Tanzania Prisons face off in the third place playoff. The match will start at 10am at the same venue.

At noon, falling giants Vijana, popularly known as City Bulls, will take on their arch-rivals Pazi in the men’s third place play-off.
“I am optimistic that those who will turn up at the National Indoor Stadium will have lots of fun because the teams lined up for both men and women’s finals boast formidable squads,” Mwamboma said.

The third place playoff matches are also expected to be exciting because Vijana and Pazi, once rated the country’s big guns, command huge following in the city.The DB official admitted that they faced various hitches in organising this year’s league, one of them being unwillingness of sponsors.
“We are happy that the league is now inching towards the home stretch. We were afraid that lack of sponsorship could deny it the excitement and competitive edge it deserves,” he said.He said they have set aside trophies and medals for the winners of Sunday’s finals and third place playoffs.

UCU Invitational finals
Men
UCU 74 Ndejje 63
Women
UCU 44 KCC 37

FIRST division teams in the local basketball league will be aware of the UCU Canons’ current form when the league kicks off on April 16.

The Canons’ team has made a few but crucial changes that will make them a big threat to traditional rivals, reigning league champions Power, Warriors and Miracle.

As the Fuba League transfer window nears climax, speculation is rife that Warriors and Miracle are involved in a battle to snatch Ben Komakech from Power.

According to the Fuba calendar circulated to clubs last week, the national league will get underway on April 16 implying the transfer window must close days earlier.

Since the end of last year’s thrilling play-off series, it’s been an unusually quiet transfer season but topflight clubs are now working round the clock to beef up their playing staff.
“Our plan is to sign one more player soon,” Miracle team manager Chris Kyebambe said. Interestingly, reigning MVP Komakech is keeping his options open too. “Even if I want to move since my contract with Power has expired, I may as well stay here because it’s a very good team. I will only join a team that has potential of reaching the finals at the very least.”

Losing semifinalists UCU Canons have been by far the busiest in signing Sudi Ulanga (Falcons), Kenyan Martin Okwako (Kyambogo Warriors) and countrymate Desmond Owili. They are, however, unsure of keeping Ivan Enabu, who has completed his studies at the university.
Miracle Eagles landed Richard Osano Omondi from Falcons but lost centre Brian Ssentogo to Ndejje University Angels.
Fuba assistant general secretary Joseph Manano said they are keen to ensure the transfer season ends in the time frame stipulated and the league starts on time.
But if history is anything to go by, this deadline won’t stand. Last year, Warriors signed the Malinga brothers Eric and Henry from Falcons plus Michael Kairuiki and Markmot Orom from KIU on the eve of the league tip-off.

That was even relatively quieter than the year before when DMark Power acquired Norman and Donald Blick while Falcons got Stephen Omony in a marriage that ended bitterly.

NAIROBI (Premier League) - National champions Co-operative Bank of Kenya made it two wins in a row by defeating United States International University (USIU) 63-57 in a Premier League clash at Nyayo National Stadium gymnasium.

Abel Nson set the ball rolling for the bankers with two quick three-pointers before Victor Bosire replied with two foul shots. The lively Evans Letting hit a three-pointer as USIU took their first lead at 13-10 en route to a 17-12 first quarter edge.

Co-op regrouped as the speedy Titus Musembi was introduced and he sprayed passes for Mark Mayien and Mike Makidai to drive the winners ahead 33-29 as the buzzer sounded for the end of the half.

In the third quarter, Co-op still enjoyed a 49-38 advantage but once Letting scored on a dunk for a 51-47 cushion, Co-op panicked. Chris Mulumba scored inside for a 61-54 margin and Letting made it 61-57 before the final buzzer stopped the onslaught.

Nson finished with 15 points, Makiadi added 11 and Mayen had 10 for Co-op. Letting paced the students with 18, 11 coming in the first quarter, while Mulumba chipped in with 14.

Meanwhile, Thunder struck Strathmore University 61-57.

Ken Mwangi shot the victors into an early lead with a three-pointer as they went up 15-8 edge at the end of the first quarter. The students though got back into the game with a 17-13 advantage in the second period that cut the deficit to 28-25 at the break.

After the resumption, a huge slam dunk by Ronny Gundo followed by a David Ogolla basket gave Strathmore their first lead at 31-30, but that was shortlived.

Mwangi hit a timely three-pointer for a 44-34 Thunder advantage. Despite a heroic recovery by the Blades, he then connected on back-to-back long bombs for a commanding 57-47 cushion for the victors.

Mwangi finished with 20 points while Sammy Kirya added 10 for Thunder, formerly International Christian Center (ICC). Strathmore got 16 points from Tony Abondo and 10 from Gundo.

Elsewhere, Sprite Storms thrashed seven-man Predators 58-19. The losers were held to just a single point in the first quarter that ended 18-1 and they never recovered.

In women's action, Carol Achieng went for a game-high 32 points to lead Co-p Bank past past USIU Flames 63-60. Irene Wafula added 12 points. For the students, Zipporah Odhiambo scored 21 points and Debrah Chan added 16.

Kenya College of accountancy (KCA) beat Kenya Polytechcnic University 38-26 behind 14 points from Lucy Machuma. Naomi Kirigo shot 11 for Poly, who lost their second tie in a row. KCA wre up 12-11 at the break.

Umoja went past Kenya Polytechnic University 49-30. Rogers Magati scored 14 points and Raphale Otieno hit nine. Poly had a combined 17 from Austin Akoth and Pesent Orengo.

Dann OWERRE
FIBA

KADUNA (DStv PBL) - As the regular season of the Nigeria DStv Premier Basketball League heats up, teams are jostling for points to brighten their qualification for the final-eight playoffs, slated for June this year, while others battle against relegation.

Defending champions Kano Pillars basketball club wre in superb form becoming the first team to record centenary points with their 100-40 points victory over relegation threatened Tapgun Rockets basketball club of Jos in a Week-8 game.

The champion led their opponents from the blast of the referees’ whistles, not giving any room to the Rockets who appear unimpressive throughout the game with Pillars combo-guard and Nigeria international Ibrahim Yusuf.

And it was Yusuf who scored the 100th point in the dying seconds of the game to give the side tutored by Coach Sani Ahmed its seven straight leage win.

Niger Potters were leading Nigeria Immigration 63-52 points when the game, held in Minna had to be abandoned, while Plateau Peaks basketball club of Jos had a narrow 68-67 points victory over Bauchi Nets basketball club in Abuja and Kada Stars went past Yelwa Hawks basketball club of Bauchi by 84-66 points.

Sani Turi's Kada Stars won the first three quarters by 20-12, 15-14 and 28-19 while the last one ended 21 points apiece.

In the Atlantic conference, Delta Force basketball club of Asaba gave away four points to conference leader, as they failed to honour their week-8 road games to Comets basketball club and Islanders basketball club.

Chariots basketball club's dwindling fortune continued with a 58-77 points defeat to Dodan Warriors on Saturday at the sports hall of the national stadium in Lagos, while the game between Union Bank basketball club of Lagos and visiting Royal Hoopers basketball club of Port Harcourt played on Sunday lived up to its billing of ‘STAR-GAME’ of the week stressing into over-time before Union Bank finally won by 84-81 points.

Week-8 results

Atlantic Conference
Chariots 58 - 77 Dodan Warriors
Comets 20 - 00 Delta Force (Walk Over)
Islanders 20 – 00 Delta Force3 (walk Over)
Union Bank 84 – 81 Royal Hoopers (O/T)

Savannah Conference
Plateau Peaks 68 – 67 Bauchi Nets
Kano Pillars 100 – 40 Tapgun Rockets
Niger Potters 63 – 52 Immigration
Kada Stars 84 – 66 Yelwa Hawks

Ikuesan Olusegun
FIBA

A l’approche des play-offs prévus pour juin, les équipes se disputent de plus en plus leurs places qualificatives, tandis que d’autres se battent pour éviter la relégation.

Résultats 8eme journée

ATLANTIC CONFERENCE

CHARIOTS 58 - 77 DODAN WARRIORS
COMETS 20 - 00 DELTA FORCE (WALK-OVER)
ISLANDERS 20 – 00 DELTA FORCE (WALK-OVER)
UNION BANK 84 – 81 ROYAL HOOPERS (O/T)

SAVANNAH CONFERENCE

PLATEAU PEAKS 68 – 67 BAUCHI NETS
KANO PILLARS 100 – 40 TAPGUN ROCKETS
NIGER POTTERS 63 – 52 IMMIGRATION
KADA STARS 84 – 66 YELWA HAWKS

The Citizen Correspondent
Dar es Salaam. ABC cruised into the Dar es Salaam Regional Basketball League (RBA) final with a 68-62 win over lessening giants Pazi in nail-biting match at the National Indoor Stadium yesterday.

The army team will now face the winner between JKT and Vijana in the final set for Sunday at the same venue. The two teams were expected to lock horns yesterday evening.
Pazi, needing a win so as to avenge a 61-53 defeat by ABC in their previous match, made a bright start yesterday.
The former Mainland basketball giants, command the proceedings with swift but accurate passes, they looked destined for a convincing win when they took a 18-15 first quarter lead.
The second quarter was even more exciting as both teams fought hard for points to the delight of a partisan crowd at the venue. Pazi won it 32 – 29.
After a wobbly start, ABC, led by their key player Philbert Mwaipungu, took the game to their opponents in the third quarter.
Mwaipungu scored eight points and Gilbert Batungi added seven more as ABC applied all weapons at their disposal to contain their opponents. The thirds quarter ended on a 44-44 draw.
Mwaipungu and Batungi scored 21 and 19 points, respectively for ABC, while Mpoki Joel and Fredy Kasambo were notable players for Pazi. The duo scored 13 points apiece for the team.
ABC coach Leonard heaped praise on his lads for the victory and assured their fans that they would do the same in Sunday’s final.
“I am very happy with the way my team played today. We’ll train even harder to ensure we maintain the tempo and snatch the title on Sunday,” he said confidently.

The RBA league, which has attracted 14 men teams and eight women’s sides, will come to an end on Sunday.
Defending champions Savio opted out of the tournament last week in protest of a decision by Dar es Salaam Basketball to suspend their key players Jije Makani and Henry Mwinuka for alleged misconduct.

Wandegeya

Results
T. Norman 67 - 48 T.Phillip
T. Wazee 43 - 42 T. Ikong
T. Kasewu 53 - 43 T. Opio
T. Koma 40 - 41 T. Mukiiza

After three weeks of huffing and puffing, the old men of Team Wazee managed a narrow win over Team Ikong with a 43-42 win to give Elliot Bagenda and Peter Mubanda a grin on their faces and a chance for the coveted prize.

The former DMark Power teammates came into the third leg of the Friday Night Lights winless and had to work their feet off to match the speed and quick hands of the youthful Team Ikong. The latter though was made to pay the price of school boys errors.
Despite having just two players on time for the early kick off of the night, Team Norman registered an emphatic 67-48 win over the struggling Team Philip.

With 10 minutes to the start, only Isaac Afidra and Eric Malinga were at the YMCA Wandegeya courtside. Captain Norman Blick and his brother Donald were no where to be seen. But the two brothers made up for the lateness by turning in decent shifts to steer their team a vital victory that kept them in sight of the Shs2m overall prize.

“We were only two players around but thank God all the others arrived to show these youngsters that we are the best team in this fans event,” boasted Afidra during the post game interview.

Meanwhile, Team Kasewu continued to dominate the fan basketball tourney with a comfortable 10-point win margin over Team Opio with the final scores reading a 53-43. Kasewu, who turns out for First Division outfit Warriors, exhibited silky skills shooting three-pointers with ease and set up his teammates for easy buckets as his team outshone its less-favoured rivals.

In the final game of the night, Team Mukiza got the bettered of Team Koma by just one point 41-40 in a nervy affair. Team leader Collins Mukiza nailed three-pointers for fun all day long while his teammate Richard Omondi of Falcons kept the crowd on its feet yearning for more with a non-stop dunking fest.

Even the afternoon downpour could not stop the partisan basketball fans from turning up for the pre-season event that is organised by Kinetic Management Africa (KMG) and aimed at giving fans a chance to play alongside their stars.

Venue is the Aviation Social Centre, and the time is 8am. What 's happening is the final games of this year's Milo Junior Ball, one of the competitions organized annually by Rite Multimedia meant for basic and junior high school kids.

One school each represents the Central and Eastern regions, with 6 schools from the Greater Accra region all vying for that one spot won by the HCI who represented the Central region last year.

Here's a list of the competing schools you could use;

Central region - Catholic Jubilee JHS
Eastern region - Anglican JHS
Accra - Air force base basic school, Kotoka Preparatory, Gliss, Ridge Church school, Calvary School and St. Joseph's school.

With no league matches tomorrow, let's all make some time and pass through, show our support for the youth game and see what the future of Ghana Basketball looks like...

By SAMMY KITULA skitula@ke.nationmedia.com

After failing to win the boys’ provincial basketball title last year, Upper Hill High School have vowed to shock their opponents, Aquinas High, when the two meet at the 11am finals on Saturday.

Defending champions Buru Buru will square it out with their perennial rivals, 2009 provincial winners Langata High, in the girls’ category of the Nairobi Secondary Schools Sports Association provincial finals at Nairobi School.
Schools will compete in cross country, due at 8am, hockey and sevens rugby.
“All teams ought to assemble at Nairobi School before 8am. We want to finish up early, now that the rains are here,” said NSSSA chairman Moses Mbuthia.

Very technical match

In a charged final last year, hosts Upper Hill lost 72-66 to Nairobi International School but “Upper”, as they are fondly called by their fans, have vowed to shock the former national champions.
Interestingly, when NIS were winning, their then head coach, George Mayienga, was celebrating on the touchline.
Now Mayienga is not only on the Upper Hill bench but he also aims at adding to his feather another national title!

The United States International University-Africa (USIU-A) head coach has won five national titles, four with Kamukunji (girls) and two at Laiser Hill (boys).
“We expect a tight match on Saturday. Aquinas play a very technical match but we are ready for them,” said the towering tactician. “I would want to win another provincial title, and the national.”

Mayienga and his employer, principal Peter Orero, were behind the triumphs of Kamukunji in the late 1990s.

The winners will qualify for next month’s Brookside Term One National Championships at Kakamega High, back to Western Province after seven years.

C.Y.O 56, Yotive 51
O.K finally the Accra L started off with a D2 game. As usual C.Y.O came in as the undersized, less athletic side but ended up schooling their opponent. The new-look Yotive, after loosing most of their players in the off season to Holy Family were all but lost on the court. Too many rooks on one team if you asked me compounded with a coach who didn't know who exactly to play at what time(too many unnecessary subs). At the end of the day, all C.Y.O can say to Yotive is "Welcome to D2 baby!".


Reformers 61, Warriors 77
D1? Goodness, too much rough play for one game. Made me start thinking if D1 is going to be that difficult. Many fans could possibly have complained of bad officiating, but trust me, players and coaches of both sides made the job extra difficult for today's referees. Reformers' team this year looks like a bunch of school yard kids now learning the game; with a lot of bad attitude. All additions made to the Reformers' team can't and won't bring nothing good to the team, PERIOD!. Warriors also had their own set of new faces; good addition of size (Ali Baba and Tanko), then a good one in the back court (Rafiq Mohamed) even though he didn't see
a lot of play time today will definitely be useful to the team along this two-round league journey. Probably you expected to read a minute to minute recap of this game, but I tell you, this one was filled with too much bad physical play, exchange of abusive words and stops that made it quite difficult to watch especially the last Q. All I gotta say is Welcome to 2011 GABL.... and I wish I could say ...where the NOT so amazing happens...

http://reboundgh.blogspot.com

By Brown Msyani
The Citizen Correspondent

Dar es Salaam. The stand-off between Dar es Salaam Basketball (DB) and Don Bosco Youth Centre over the suspension of key Savio players took a new twist yesterday when the Centre opted out of the ongoing RBA League.

Don Bosco said in a letter submitted to DB yesterday that their teams would not honour their remaining league matches in protest of the RBA organisers’ decision to turn down the their appeal again the suspensions of their two players.

The reigning RBA League champions, Savio and DB Lioness, are the teams owned by the Dar es Salaam centre.
In a letter signed by Don Bosco director Frederick Swai, they said they were not happy with the way they handled the matter, and described the punishment as unfair.

This comes days after DB slapped a one month ban and Sh 300,000 fine on Savio’s Henry Mwinuka allegedly for assaulting Ashraf Haroun of Vijana when their sides met recently. The Dar es Salaam basketball governing body also imposed a six-month suspension on Mwinuka’s teammate Jije Makani allegedly for harassing Vijana’s Doto Zephania.

Don Bosco had also appealed against a ruling by organisers on the March 12 game between arch-rivals Savio and Vijana, which was halted with only 29 seconds to time.BD had ruled that the match be replayed the following day, but they later awarded Vijana a walkover after Savio failed to show up at the National Indoor Stadium.

However, Don Bosco fell short of elaborating on their decision to withdraw their women’s team, DB Lioness, which was not involved in the fracas. Following their withdrawal, both teams risk being relegated to a lower division next season.Savio hold three basketball titles. They are also the National Basketball League (NBL) champions as well as Union League title holders.

(by Thomas Fink) africabasket.com

The captain of the mens basketball team which leaves on Friday to represent Bulawayo Metropolitan Province in an Inter-Provincial tournament in Mutare has expressed optimism they will emerge as the best. Muchengeti Hamandishe told NewsDay Sport that they were confident they would perform well in the competition that ends on Sunday. Our preparations have been going on very well. We are confident that we will come back with the championship to Bulawayo, he said.

He said the team had enough depth as players like Mpumelelo Hlabangana, Derick Chiradza, Tawanda Corbi Mudzudza have been playing together for close to a decade. I have played with Hlabangana, Chiradza, Mudzudza and Mundandanda for 10 years. We have enough experience and youth in the team, he said. Hamandishe said another factor which would assist them in the quest to become champions is the competitiveness of the Bulawayo Basketball League.

Other players who are expected to do the province proud are Garikayi Gumbo, Clayton Moyo, Michael Zvoushe, Garth Hussey, Kevin Mayengere, Benjamin Jani and Sebastian Ndlovu.
The womens team comprises Sheila Rouncivell, Tahana Dube, Charmaine Chirinda, Faith Moyo and Geraldine Chibonda who have been picked up from Giants. Yolanda Matayataya, Nobukhosi Ndlovu and Orissa Ndebele have made it into the team from Lakers Seniors.

Two players from Highlanders who are part of the team are Seldom Woods and Ancilla Chivero.

Kano Pillars and Ebun Comets have taken a firm grip of their various conferences after some delightful display of Basketball and claiming victories over their opponents in their various centers at the weekend.

In the Atlantic Conference Ebun comets were too strong for Chariots as they lost at home 48 - 56 to current Atlantic leaders Comets. Delta Force of Asaba were casualties at home as they were flattened by visiting Dodan Warriors 71 -74 in Asaba.

Royal Hoopers of Port Harcourt continued their brilliant form as they out dunked Dodan Warriors of Lagos 81 – 51 in match that Dodan Warriors were no match for the Port Harcourt side as they were totally outplayed in the match. Police Baton of Lagos who were exceptional last week when they went to Asaba to beat Delta Force were a shadow of themselves as they were pummeled by Lagos Islanders 51 – 44 in Lagos.

Meanwhile in the Savannah Conference Kano Pillars who currently Top their table continued their excellent form from last week as they slaughtered Nigeria Immigration in their home 52 – 87 to keep hold of their top spot. Buachi nets were beaten at home 65 - 68 by visiting Yelwa Hawks, while Kada Stars pip hard fighting Plateau Peaks 77 – 69 in a keenly contested match. Also Tapgun Rockets who lost to Immigration last weekend were out dunked by Niger Potters 71 – 54.

Results
T. Enabu 56-32 T. Wazee
T. Ikong 56-44 T. Philip
T. Mukiza 66-52 T. Kasewu
T. Koma 52-44 T. Omwony

A bevy of fans filled the YMCA arena in Wandegeya with lots of music and Nyama Choma aroma filling the air. At some point one would think there was a musical gala or a fashion show but all that was happening was the Castle Lite Friday Night Lights basketball show.

And if families where to play in the Fuba League, then there would be a battle between the Blick Family and the Enabu Family. But maybe latter would triumph considering that four siblings play in the top flight league with only sister Evelyn Enabu playing for UCU Lady Canons.

Team Enabu whitewashed Team Wazee 56-32 in the second round of the pre-season tournament dubbed Friday Night Lights which is meant for fans to interact with the top stars in the league.

Emma Enabu and Jimmy Enabu combined for 21 points to ensure their team kept an eye on the top prize. “We came to have fun but also to make our name great” said Jimmy in the post match interview.

Team Mukiza also proved a force to reckon with when they beat Team Kasewu 66-52 in another thrilling game characterised by dunks, alley hoops and brilliant passes.
The highlight of the day was when Team Koma which has both the men’s and women’s Most Valuable Players (MVP) in Ben Komakech and Maureen Amoding combining to beat last week’s super power Team Omwony 52-44 in awe-inspiring style.

Rugby star cum basketball player Allan Musoke was the star of Team Omwony with a game high 10 points but they were not enough to save his side from defeat.

Kenya’ international forward Ancette Wafula has quit Posta to rejoin his old side Ulinzi Warriors for the new season which started at Nyayo National Stadium last weekend.

Wafula, who was in Kenya’s squad which failed to qualify for the Nations Cup and All Africa Games after crashing 74-47 to hosts Rwanda in Kigali, turned out for Ulinzi Warriors in their season opener against champions Co-operative Bank.
The soldiers lost 68-62. Wafula had signed for Posta after Ulinzi Warriors pulled out of the top league and he was instrumental to the mailmen.
Third overall
He led Posta to finish third in last year’s league regular season to qualify for the play-offs. Posta lost 2-1 to Co-op Bank in the play-offs semi-final but later managed to beat Kenya Ports Authority 89-76 to finish third overall.

Posta, who are unlikely to take part in the 2011 championship have also lost the services other top players like Titus Musembi who has signed for champions Co-operative Bank and Franklin Delano and Desmond Owilly featured for the newly formed Thunders during the pre-season tournament.

Posta and International Christian Centre (ICC) added flavour in last year’s Premier League and their withdrawal will dilute the 2011 event.
ICC withdrew their sponsorship from the league and all their players have teamed up to form Thunders under coach Faustin Mgendi who confirmed that Thunders will take up the slot of ICC in the Premier League.
Thunders lost 55-51 to Co-op Bank in the final of the eight-team championship.
Ancette Wafula had joined Posta in 2007 after Ulinzi Warriors pulled of the Premier League following the Armed Forces decision to withdraw their sponsorship.
It was then that Wafula opted to sign for Posta who were by then taking part in the Nairobi Basketball League.

Forced out

He had started his competitive basketball career with Kenya Railways, who participated in the national league in the early 1990s but later forced out of the competition after the Railways management stopped supporting its sports teams.
Both Kenya Railways men and women’s teams under the leadership of Joseph Masyuko were affected.
Wafula eamed up with Ben Oluoch and Ken Ondiek to battle out with the youthfull players leading Posta to win the inter-provincial championship in 2007.

It paved way for the mailmen’s promotion to the KBF men’s Division One league in 2008. Maintaining consistency to score in double figures, Wafula remained an asset for Posta who beat Lomboritz in the 2008 play-offs final to bounce back in the top league the following season.

First season back

The mailmen performed well on their first season back into the top flight finishing in top five positions. Last year, Posta, who had won the league three times in a row between 1992-4, finished the regular season in third position to qualify for the play-offs.
Under coach Ronnie Owino, who is also a FIBA-Africa instructor, Posta qualified for the semi-finals only to be elimninated 2-1 by Co-op Bank.
Wafula, continued to shine throughout the season remaining a big threat in three-point shooting as the mailmen shocked the giants.

By Chris Musumba

Sylvia Omollo scored 12 points while Faustina Maundu added 10 as Sprite Storms opened the new season with a 58-19 win over Predators in their basketball Premier League tie at the Nyayo Stadium on Saturday.

In other matches at the same venue, Kenya College of Accountancy-University recovered to beat Kenya Polytechnic 38-26 while Umoja formerly Lomboritz rocked Kenya Polytechnic 49-30 in their men’s lower competition encounter.
After having made a good start by upsetting KCA-U 44-38 last weekend, Predators found themselves on the receiving end as Sprite Storms punished them 58-19.

Playing in their season opener, Maundu and Omollo put their act together from the go, earning Storms a 18-1 run in the first quarter.

Smart opponents

Predators responded well in the second quarter in which Joyce Alividza hit a three-pointer with Linda Kimemia also threatening their smart opponents.
Predators closed in 14-11 but failed to maintain their stimina going down 34-12 at half-time.
Perhaps still in celebration mood after last weekend’s victory, Predators posted a shocking result as Storms hit them 12-2 in the last 10-minute quarter.

None of the Predators players register a double figure.
Umoja, who have changed name from Lomboritz, garnered two opening lower competition league points when they worked hard from behind to defeat Kenya Polytechnic 49-30.

Crucial points

After finishing last in last year’s Premier League which earned them relegation, Umoja were down 19-12 at the breather.
It was Andrew Gatembo and Rodgers Magati who took charge by scoring critical three-pointers as Umoja settled down to lead 20-5 and 17-6 in the last two quarters to celebrate victory.

Magati scored 12 points, Gatembo shot 11 and Rapha Otieno hit nine for the winners.

Fellow students

KCA-U women’s side made a quick recovery to defeat their fellow students Kenya Polytechnic 38-26 in their new season second match. The students, who had crashed 44-38 to Predators, last weekend led 12-11 at half-time with Lucy Machuma contributing game-high14 points.

Kenya Polytechnic hit back with 12 points from the over-worked Naomi Kirigo.

Sunday’s fixtures: Trail Blazers v Terrorists (10am), Co-op Bank (women) v USIU-A (12pm), KCA-U v Mennonites (2pm), Co-op Bank v Tigers of the USIU-A (4pm).

According to the execs of the GABBA, all the issues and concerns that called for the referees boycott of the start of the L have been resolved.

"We will continue with the schedule from next week, and the matches not played this week will be moved to the end of the schedule and will now be the last matches to be played", Mr. Baafi said in a statement.

The second edition of the UCU Invitation tourney will run on the weekend of 19th-20th March 2011 in Mukono. Since the first edition last year, the tourney gives the best insight into teams' preparations and recruitments for the FUBA National Basketball league scheduled to start in April.

Many anxiously wait to see how teams like Miracle will play. Miracle will be a team to watched out for this season having beefed up their squad with Richard Osanoh Omondi and star pointguard Francis Tumusiime. The former Falcon duo that never got to play together last year when Francis sat out the whole season due to injury now joins star playmaker Stephen Omony to challenge for the first ever silverware in the club's history.
In the UCU Tourney, we will see what structures and players have remained at Power and Warriors. Power especially have around 7 players who are free agents, including Norman Blick, MVP Ben Koma and Joseph Ikong.
Warriors are doubted to keep Okwako Martin who is said to be moving to UCU where he is pursuing further studies. Also doubted is the re appearance of Ramadhan Abdullahi from TZ and even more doubted is the fact whether Eteu Gad will retain the job as Warriors coach after unestablished rumours that he actually quit after the playoffs last year.
There's too much specualtion at the moment but the UCU tourney will give us the best picture of what the season will be like.

The following teams have been invited in both the men and women divisions.

Men
UCU
POWER
KYAMBOGO WARRIORS
FALCONS
MIRACLE
KAMPALA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
NDEJJE UNIVERSITY
NKUMBA UNIVERSITY
KAMPALA CITY COUNCIL
MAKERERE UNIVERSITY
UCU JV
RHINO
MUK HEATERS
KNIGHT RIDER
BARKLY
ST. MICHAEL

Women
UCU
A1 CHALLENGE
KAMPALA CITY COUNCIL
KAMPALA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
MUK SPARKS
MUK CUBS
MAGIC STORMERS
AMAZON RHINO
LADY BUCKS
NABISUNSA
CRANE HIGH LADIES

Lebanon House - Yes, the Accra L has been postponed again, thanks to nobody. After fans thought the long wait was over, their worst nightmare came to pass again.

The problems in the L as we all know,knows no boundaries. Certainly, this is one that needs urgent fixing in my opinion.

Referees did not show up on opening day of the 2011 GABL.

In a phone convo with Mr. Gasu, he said this was in protest for a couple of issues that they wanted the L's execs to fix before they'll commence officiating this year's L. "First of all we did this in support of a fellow ref" he said siting the Anani, Dougy incident that happened last season after the CEPS-Hoops game at the prisons' court. According to the decision taken by the disciplinary committee, Dougy was supposed to serve a ban as well as pay for the medical bills of Mr. Anani. The problem is, so far he has not fulfilled the latter part of the committees decision. An action that prompted Mr. Anani to personally opt out of officiating this year's L.

The other reasons being more technical, were related to the game involved schedule and local rules. The refs complain of receiving the schedule for this year's league just this past Monday, 7th March, a date they said was too close to the start of the L. The refs also complain of the non-attachment of the local rules to the schedule, and that they wish for it to be available before they can go on to officiate.

On Tuesday evening, Charging Rhino started preparations for their return to the Fuba League Division One that is set for next month. Their forward Mathew Kayonde missed practice. His teammates hoped this was just lukewarm response to a first training session following the promotion exploits from last year not knowing he had passed on.

And so often, during the Division Two play-offs, he could barely find time to train opting to concentrate on his telecommunication engineering degree course at Makerere University. Bearing in mind that school is now in progress, his absence from training was not hard to explain.

Taken to Mulago
Little did they know that Kayonde had travelled with friends for an exhibition game at his former school – Kings College Budo. A few minutes into the game, Kayonde collapsed and was taken to the school clinic.

The school nurse quickly reffered him to Mengo Hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. “Actually when I received a call from his cousin Douglas telling me about Kayonde, I thought it was a joke because I spoke to him a few weeks ago. It’s very hard to take.

My mind is off basketball now,” teammate Mark Opio said. Due to his lanky nature, Rhino teammates nicknamed Kayonde “Gombs” drawing comparisons with Kyambogo Warriors centre Sam Gombya. As the doctors conducted a postmortem yesterday, family members kept asking open-ended questions about what could have been.

The University’s men and women basketball team moved to the top of the Kenya University Sports Association (KUSA) leagues following wins over the weekend. The teams are also the defending champions of the leagues.

Blades, the men team beat University of Nairobi ‘Terrorists’ 50-46 in a match played at USIU on Sunday. Joseph Owino scored 20 points for Blades, and is now on top of the scorers table with 27 points.

Swords, the women team beat Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). Mellisa Akinyi topped the score list with eight points.

Blades posted another hard earned 53-47 win over CUEA. Coach Tony Ochieng said his boys have their eyes on the crown once again. The play offs start in mid March.

National champions Co-operative Bank of Kenya beat Ulinzi Warriors 68-62 in a top premier league clash at Nyayo National Stadium gymnasium.

The bankers got off to a bright start with Peter Kiganya nailing a long range three-pointer but the Warriors responded well, building up a narrow lead by the end of a slow first quarter, with scores ending 14-11
Two free-throws by Ali Mzee midway through the second saw the gap reduced to only one point (24-25). But the response was immediate as Wafula hit a basket and another by Vincent Juma saw Ulinzi up 33-27 as the first half buzzer sounded.
After the break Co-op moved up a gear, regaining the lead, which they quickly extended to 50-41. In spite of an attempted comeback.
Genga led Co-op with 13 points, Kiganya posted 12 while new boy Titus Musembi made an impressive debut at the back court. For the struggling Ulinzi, Wafula had game high 18 points and 16 from Vincent Odendo.

Dann O'Werre
FIBA

Chairman of the GABBA Mr. Benjamin Baafi has Officially confirmed the commencement of the GABL, which starts tomorrow 9th March 2011.

It was fun galore over the weekend as the DStv Premier Basketball League as Week-6 produced fantastic results at both the Atlantic and Savannah conferences.

Playing at the at the Indoor Sports Hall of National Stadium Surulere Lagos, Union Bank set the Atlantic Conference on fire as they narrowly edged out Dodan Warriors of Lagos 79-75 in their first match before overcoming Ebun Comets 71-55 in their second game of the weekend.

Also, Delta Force of Asaba lost their second successive home game 67-82 to visiting Police Baton of Lagos on Saturday.
The Police Batons team which silenced the fans at the Asaba Township Stadium later suffered a shocking defeat on their trip to Royal Hoopers of Port Harcourt next day.
At the Savannah Conference, Niger Potters lost 58 - 74 at home to Kano Pillars with Plateau Peaks suffering same fate at home with a 47 - 63 point against Yelwa Hawks of Yobe.
Also, Bauchi Nets overpowered Kada Stars 82 - 71 while Immigration defeated Tapgun Rockets 84 – 76.

Week-6 Results

Atlantic conference
Union Bank 79 - 75 Dodan Warriors
Delta Force 67 - 82 Police Baton
Comets 55 - 71 Union Bank
Royal Hoopers 88 - 56 Police Baton

Savannah conference
Niger Potters 58 - 74 Kano Pillars
Plateau Peaks 47 - 63 Yelwa Hawks yobe
Bauchi Nets 82 - 71 Kada Stars
Lagos Immigration 84 - 76 Tapgun Rockets

Winelands Basketball League kicks off in 2011 with the support of the Delta Trust to try and revive basketball in a forgotten but beautiful part of the Western Cape. With kyle Ray working closely with Aggrey Ofula to generate, educate and elevate the game of basketball in the area we are bound to see growth.

The Delta Trust was established in 2007 to focus on development projects in the wider Franschhoek Valley and Cape Winelands District. The aim of the Trust is to contribute to nation building by protecting and stimulating our local culture and heritage in a socially inclusive way. Obviously, education plays an important role in this..

This will be the 1st time in Boland Basketball history that a Snr League is being held. Our spin-off date is the 27th March 2011. All matches will be played either on a Friday or Sunday afternoon. The launch function takes place on the 19th March in Paarl and this League shall run until early October 2011.

Youth and residents of Gaborone West were on Saturday treated to a humdinger family fun day event by the Botswana Basketball Association (BBA) and Thomas and Thomas Junior (T-n-T Jr.)

International Sports at the Mmamasire Youth Centre as they received honours for their dedication and hard work in a basketball life-skills camp they excelled in, in December last year. A total of 14 youth out of the 89 who attended the holiday camp were awarded prizes for their efforts during the camp. According to founder and Executive Director of T-n-T Jr. Thomas Raglin, the aim of the holiday camp was to impart basketball and life skills to underprivileged children in G-West as a way of keeping them away from social ills and helping them make a living out of sport. The camp attracted youth aged between 8-31 years. "It is not all about playing basketball. We also want to teach these kids survival skills in life and help them grow to become good, responsible citizens, all through the game of basketball," Raglin said. He said they want more people to come on board and get involved, especially the parents as they were still lagging behind in supporting their children in the initiative.

T-n-T Jr. International Sports is a non-profit making organisation dedicated to serving the underprivileged youth and communities through sports, especially Basketball. Raglin started the organisation when he first came to Botswana in October last year. The December camp was the first camp to be staged locally and there are plans to spread the initiatives to other parts of the city and country in future. "We want to spread this initiative. In the next few weeks, we will be going to the Tsholofelo area and if we get enough resources, we want to make it a countrywide initiative," said Mothusi Phokoje, another pioneer of the project. For continuity's sake on the initiative, there are regular training sessions conducted by players and officials from BBA at the National Youth Centre (NYC) courts every Friday, Saturdays and Sunday mornings. The two added that they are still looking for sponsors to come on board as well because they can only survive and continue through donations from the business community. The US-born Raglin told Sport Monitor that he has some long-term goals to see basketball in Botswana turn professional.

"I have connections in the US and I want to see one of these [children] getting education on a full basketball scholarship there. I know it is possible; in the long term I want to see at least one professional basketball team in the country," he said. He said he was overly impressed with the outcome of the inaugural camp. Over 150 youth have been trained under the initiative since its inception four months back. Raglin, who hails from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania has a Degree in Adolescent Psychology and has over 15 years of community service experience and 25 years of organised basketball experience. He has played college basketball and once played at semi-professional level. In Botswana, he is also coaching league champions Troopers and has been roped in to coach the University of Botswana (UB) basketball team for the Inter-varsity Games next month.

(by Olusegun Ikuesan) africabasket.com

Police Baton basketball club of Lagos takes its survival battle to the Niger Delta region of Nigeria where it will keep a date with Delta Force basketball club of Asaba on Saturday and Royal Hoopers basketball club of Port Harcourt on Sunday.

The double road game for the Coach Mark Balogun tutored Baton means so much to the Lagos-based side as it intensify its fight against relegation alongside two other clubs Delta Force and Chariots basketball club of Lagos.

The Police occupies the bottom of the eighth team Atlantic conference with just a win from four league games.

In other Week-6 pairing of the Atlantic conference Union Bank basketball club will have its hands full when it take on Dodan Warriors basketball club on Saturday and be the guest of conference leader Comets basketball club.

And in the Savannah conference Niger Potters basketball club of Minna will be at home to defending champion, Kano Pillars basketball club on Saturday while Plateau Peaks basketball club of Jos and Yelwa Hawks basketball club of Bauchi tango.

On Sunday rejuvenated Nigeria Immigration basketball club of Kano who picked its first win in the league last weekend with a 73-61 points defeat of Plateau Peaks will host Tapgun Rockets basketball club of Jos in Kano while Bauchi Nets basketball club test the might of Kada Stars basketball club of Kaduna.

(by Olusegun Ikuesan) africabasket.com

Police Baton basketball club of Lagos takes its survival battle to the Niger Delta region of Nigeria where it will keep a date with Delta Force basketball club of Asaba on Saturday and Royal Hoopers basketball club of Port Harcourt on Sunday.

The double road game for the Coach Mark Balogun tutored Baton means so much to the Lagos-based side as it intensify its fight against relegation alongside two other clubs Delta Force and Chariots basketball club of Lagos.

The Police occupies the bottom of the eighth team Atlantic conference with just a win from four league games.

In other Week-6 pairing of the Atlantic conference Union Bank basketball club will have its hands full when it take on Dodan Warriors basketball club on Saturday and be the guest of conference leader Comets basketball club.

And in the Savannah conference Niger Potters basketball club of Minna will be at home to defending champion, Kano Pillars basketball club on Saturday while Plateau Peaks basketball club of Jos and Yelwa Hawks basketball club of Bauchi tango.

On Sunday rejuvenated Nigeria Immigration basketball club of Kano who picked its first win in the league last weekend with a 73-61 points defeat of Plateau Peaks will host Tapgun Rockets basketball club of Jos in Kano while Bauchi Nets basketball club test the might of Kada Stars basketball club of Kaduna.

Finally the Accra league's schedule has been released by the GABBA. In any league they are always games fans look forward to, no matter how many times they occur in a lifetime. As much as fans of the NBA, including myself will like to watch other teams succeed, we continually yearn for a Celtics-Lakers final. And if you have been a fan of the Accra L, there are games you certainly wouldn't want to miss especially this year when it promises to be more exciting because of the divisions introduced.

The introduction of the divisions have certainly taken away some matches fans would have wished for. Who wouldn't want to see how CEPS pays TY back for what they did to them in the 2010 Thome Cabalan finals.

CEPS vs Warriors. March 9,4pm, Lebanon Hse.
No one should miss the first game of the season. This match up didn't leave up to expectation last season because the Warriors team was in a little bit of a mess getting to the end of the season due to the breaks. So we should get ready for a more interesting game on opening day!

Hoops vs Police. March 12, 4pm, Lebanon Hse.
Hoops won this match up last year with 2 points, look out for Police to come all out for their revenge.

Holy family vs Magic. March 12, 5pm, Lebanon Hse.
one point game in favor of Magic last season. A revamped Holy Family wouldn't take t likely against their Tudu based foes this time.

Kingdom Hoops vs Turbo Jets. March 18, 3pm, Prisons' court.
For sure this match is not here because of the jets, it made here because it marks the debut of the other "Hoops" team. let's see what they bring. Welcome Kingdom Hoops!

CEPS vs Police. March 18, 4pm, Prisons' court.
The two top security teams' battle for supremacy.

Fire vs Magic. March 19, 4pm, Lebanon Hse.
With both teams having Tudu backgrounds, an exciting game is assured.

Hoops vs Holy Family. March 19, 5pm, Lebanon Hse.
Pappoe, Djimate and co revenge their loss against Hoops with a new look HF dominated with Yotive expatriates.

Reformers vs Police. March 23, 4pm, Prisons' court.
With all the support on their side, we'll see if Reformers will be able to hand Police two losses in a row.

C.Y.O vs Tema Youth. April 1, 3pm, Lebanon Hse.
Hmm! You certainly don't expect C.Y.O to upset TY again, such feats don't happen in sports with this much frequency.

Warriors vs Hoops. April 2, 4pm, Prisons' court.
Arguably the best match of the 201 GABL. Ended 91-90 for Hoops. No matter who wins, get prepared for a thriller.

CEPS vs Magic. April 6, 4pm, Prisons' court.
Yes, this match made to the list. A match expected to be boring and look like a fixed one. Don't ask me why. find out!

Hoops vs Magic. April 16, 4pm, Prisons' court.
Coach C of Hoops regularly airs his dislike of this Magic team. he claims they should be way better. "They should be shooting lights outs, it's the same court they train on. Yet they never live to expectation".

CEPS vs Hoops. April 20, 4pm, Lebanon Hse.
EPIC ENCOUNTER!. Part 2. Please do not miss!.

Fire vs Magic, April 22, 4pm, Prisons' court.
Both teams have Tudu backgrounds, a possible in-house battle is expected.

Police vs Warriors. April 23, 5pm, Lebanon Hse.
Police will have definitely win this one. Warriors won the match up last season with some 9 points.

Tema Youth vs Panthers. April 27, 3pm, Lebanon Hse.
Accra East warfare. Even though TY are favourites, it will be interesting to see what those OKC-like Panthers have under their sleeves.

http://reboundgh.blogspot.com

RWANDA's basketball body, Ferwaba is set to upgrade all local basketball courts to meet FIBA (the world basketball governing body)'s new court lining.
According to Ferwaba's technical director Shema Maboko, the two lines that run from the baseline to the free throw line have in the past been spread out but according to the new FIBA initiative, they will be straight and parallel to the court's sidelines.
He added that, 'This will help our athletes to adjust easily when they join teams in Europe. With the new rule, the players will fit in easily.'

Meanwhile, APR, CSK, Espoir and reigning league champions Kigali Basketball Club (KBC) are expected to participate in Burundi's annual Rutsindura memorial tournament.

They will play against Burundi's New Stars and Urunani Stars in the three-day tournament which starts this Friday at parquet indoor stadium in Bujumbura.
Courtesy of: The New Times

SOMALIA and Somaliland are the latest countries to confirm participation in the Zone Five East and Central Africa Inter Cities Championships planned for April in Nairobi, officials disclosed.

Inter Cities executive officer Agina Wesonga confirmed Mogadishu and Hargeisha City, the capital of Somaliland, will send their men's teams to the regional tournament that throws off April 19-23 at Nyayo Stadium. 'Yes we have already got their invitations and they are so much excited. We have already communicated and given them the go ahead to join the show. They are even ready to pay now. Their inclusion in this expanding championships will be a boost to the region,' said Agina. Mogadishu men's team took part in the Arusha event held in 2009 and will be making their second appearance.

Led by their chairman Hassan Abdalla, Hargeisha will be making their debut and have promised to be regulars there after. Agina said that the foreign teams will arrive on April 18. There will be a two-day clinic for all the referees who will be assigned to officiate in the championships. The whistlers are expected from all the participating countries. Nairobi will have four teams. Two from the Nairobi Basketball Association (NBA) League while the other two will come from the Kenya University Sports Association (KUSA) league. The KUSA league at Kenyatta University this weekend will be used to name the provisional squad that will represent varsities and colleges. Other cities are last year's hosts Mombasa, Kampala, Jinja, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanga, Arusha and Mwanza.
Courtesy of: Nairobi Star

PLAYERS in the FUBA league want the basketball governing body to get a copy of every player-club contract that is signed.
According to the FUBA Players Association, knowledge of contractual details will greatly assist the federation arbitrate when there is conflct, as is often the case.
This was one of suggestion raised during the recent meeting between the players association and FUBA officials although there are doubts it will be accepted by the clubs.

By Ismail Dhakaba Kigongo

In the coming few weeks, the DMark Power management team faces a definitive moment before the 2011 MTN-Fuba League gets underway next month.

Almost the entire team is yet to renew their current deals that ran out at the end of last season but none has been offered a new contract yet.
Captain Norman Blick, his deputy Isaac Afidra, play-offs MVP Ben Komakech and league top scorer Joseph Ikong will have to put pen to paper again to feature in Power’s title defence. In separate interviews, the quartet confirmed this unison. “It’s true we don’t have contracts but the good thing here is that Power is a family which everyone is proud to be part of,” Ikong said recently.

All four represented Uganda at the Fiba Africa Zone V Nations Championships in Kigali, Rwanda hence the delayed negotiations with the club boss Alex Kasendwa.

Repeated efforts to reach Kasendwa are yet to bear any fruit. However, now that the same management also has Makerere Youth Heaters gaining promotion to Division One, he faces an issue of prioritising one team over the other.

Sources within the club intimated to this newspaper that Power have been trying to land the UCU Canons duo of Ivan Enabu and Jimmy Enabu. The former finished his undergraduate course at the university and is unlikely to play for them again.

In an interview with Daily Monitor, point guard Komakech reiterated his commitment to Power despite being approached by losing finalists Kyambogo Warriors and former side Miracle Eagles.

Defending champion of the DStv Premier Basketball League, Kano Pillars basketball club last weekend proved that its the true champion of the Nigeria league when it ended the invicibility of reigning Savannah conference leader, Kada Stars basketball club of Kaduna.

Week-5 Results

Atlantic Conference

Union Bank 83-54 Chariots
Islanders 73-70 Royal Hoopers
Dodan Warriors 87-88 Royal Hoopers
Comets 73-58 Police Baton

Savannah conference

Tapgun Rockets 68-76 Yelwa Hawks
Kada Stars 67-89 Kano Pillars
Bauchi Nets 20-00 Niger Potters (W/O)
Immigration 73-61 Plateau Peaks

Written by Felix Eupal

When Ndejje University Angels joined topflight basketball two years ago, few gave them a chance of staying up with the big boys as Felix Eupal writes

For a club that struggled to make it from the lower divisions, rubbing shoulders with the elite was always going to be a hurdle. However, having survived 2009 with a credible sixth position, Ndejje Angels defied odds last season when they narrowly missed out on a playoff slot by two points.

Club coach Walker Obedi told The Observer that his boys have gained enough exposure, experience and are ready to make the playoffs this season.

But experience and exposure are not the only issues that Obedi will rely on in his pursuit of making it to the post-season. The team has already made four big signings and aims to add four foreign players scouted from the recently concluded Africa Zone V qualifiers in Kigali.

In comes the trio of Henry Mugisha, Michael Opolot and Chaka Jeje, who left KCC Lions over unpaid arrears and have been lured to Ndejje by scholarships. Miracle Eagles reject Edward Bongomin is the other recruit Obedi has signed.

There is no question about Bongomin’s skill in the paint and his shooting abilities, but taking on a player who has been out of form for the two seasons is a risky gamble.

Meanwhile, club insiders intimate that unsettled Warriors stars Steven Okias and Falcons Rogers Serunyigo have been lined up to put pen to paper. If Obedi gets these two, the club will add the one aspect they need most – experience.

Though Obedi is no stranger to controversy – he was expelled from the bench in last season’s second round tie against Warriors for an outburst at referee Baker Mande Kyambadde – he has ironed out the black sheep by letting his best shooting guard Isaac Bwire leave due to indiscipline. Bwire missed several games last season because the pair couldn’t see eye to eye.

How he will handle bigger names remains to be seen.