Basketball in Africa

By Brown Msyani, The Citizen Correspondent


Dar es Salaam. JKT began their title defence on a winning note after seeing off a hard fighting ABC 65-55 in the opening match of the RBA League at the National Indoor Stadium on Saturday.
Difficult to beat when in tandem, Francis Mlewa and Frank Kusiga scored 15 and 12 points respectively to guide the defending champions into a bright start.
The match was a repeat of last year’s final when JKT trounced their fierce opponents 59-37 in a tension-packed game to lift the trophy.
ABC went to the court hoping to avenge the defeat and started on a strong footing scoring droves of points in quick succession with Adam Jegame and Juma Kisocky running the show.
ABC took a deserved 19-12 lead in the first quarter, leaving the defending champions with a lot to ponder about.
JKT, however, came back fighting in the second quarter and notched four quick points that forced ABC to change their approach.
The champions managed to score 18-12, thus heading for the halftime break trailing by a point.
It proved to be a seesaw game in the third quarter with both sides outdoing opposite guards to add points, but they were ABC who won 16-15 making the scoreboard read 47-45.
JKT showed the character of the champions in the last quarter when they ran ABC ragged to score 15-8 and seal the 10-point margin win.
Kisocky grabbed 15 rebounds followed by JKT’s Frank Simkoko with seven.
“We were very poor in service and blocking in the final quarter. It is a big blow to start on a losing front, but we shall bounce back in our next game,” said ABC head coach Leonard Kwale.
His jovial counterpart Turbet Matiku said he was satisfied with his team’s general performance and hoped that they will maintain the rhythm.
“I'm happy with our victory even though we struggled in the first and third quarters.
“What was important was to make a winning start and I am confident that we’ll keep the rhythm going,” he said.
The day also saw Savio wallop Police 91-39 at the same venue while in the women’s event, Lady Lioness were too hot for Vijana Queens to handle after winning 80-56.