Basketball in Africa

Shines Basketball Club remain top of the National Men’s Basketball League despite losing 28-21 to Lerotholi Polytechnic last Sunday.

Shines went into the weekend round of matches, one point ahead of title-rivals, KTA All Stars, but the two sides are now on 15 points apiece, after the latter won all their two fixtures—60-20 against Roma Boys and 40-33 versus Bashana Baeso. Meanwhile, in their other weekend clash, Shines were awarded maximum points after their opponents, Mafokotsane Slammers, failed to turn-up.
And just like KTA All Stars, LP—as the Lerotholi Polytechnic are famously known—were also the team to beat on the weekend, following-up on their surprise victory over the log-leaders with an emphatic 51-18 win over Lesedi.
Speaking to Public Eye on Monday this week, the Lesotho Basketball Association competitions manager, Bokang Sehlabaka, said the weekend results had shown how competitive the league had become.
“The high level of competition continues to surprises us. No one expected LP to beat Shines, but they did just that,” Sehlabaka said, noting how KTA All Stars were top of the log from the beginning until November 5, when Shines overtook them.
“KTA All Stars must now beat Shines in the second round, if they are to be crowned 2011 champions. But Shines beat All Stars in the first round, which makes the clash even more exciting.”
Meanwhile, last weekend’s matches marked the end of the league programme’s first round. The second round, Sehlabaka said, starts in January next year.