Basketball in Africa

KENYA suffered another humiliating defeat, this time falling 86-49 to defending champions Egypt in the ongoing FIBA Africa U-18 championships at the Marius Ndiaye Stadium, Dakar. Again Kenya got off well in the first quarter, trailing 19-22 but allowed the Egyptian to open up the margin, taking the second quarter 31-14 before heading to the break with a 53-33 cushion.
In the third quarter, the scores stood at 23-10 while the fourth set witnessed a low scoring 10-6 in favour of the winners. Egypt alongside hosts Senegal are the only unbeaten teams in the competition after four matches. However, the defeat against Pharaohs was Kenya's fourth straight loss.
During the match, Kenya maintained their starting line-up of five including -Taudensia Katumbe, Eve Chebet, Primrose Asura, Zippy Khasoa and Unet Juma-who played for the entire 40 minutes. Chebet posted a high of 19 points while Katumbe collected 11. The duo were the only Kenyans to score in double figures.
Egypt Sarah El-Menawi led the floor with 23 points, 8 assists and 4 rebounds. Ola El-Temsahi posted 19 points and 4 rebounds while Menai Allah Eid added 11 points to help Egypt keep a clean sheet. In the opening matches, Kenya lost 57-45 to Angola, 76-48 to Tunisia and were beaten 84-32 by Senegal.
In other matches, hosts Senegal nipped Angola 41-38 in a low scoring tie and Mali beat Tunisia 62-44. The top four teams in this six-nation tournament will battle it out in the semi-finals starting today. Meanwhile, Equity Bank maintained their unbeaten run in the Nairobi Basketball Association (NBA) league with a 65-28 thumping of JKUATS Karen, at Railways Club.
Barclays Bank thrashed King Deaf 63-18, Neosasa Morans beat Upper Hill School 32-23, Kenya Polytechnic University hit Legacy 47-39 while Saints rolled 63-56 over Upper.
Other men's results were as follows: Equity beat FOB Kenya 52-38; Barclays Bank crushed JKUATS Juja 57- 39; MMU nipped Old Pirates 66-62; Don Bosco thumped Upper Hill School 60-30; Kenya Poly beat Mount Kenya, Nairobi 52-41; Saints deflated King Deaf 57-55 and JKUATS Karen stunned Heroes 43-36.
In the ladies game, leaders Kenyatta University "Oryx" hit JKUATS 63-46 as Betty Kananu scored 24 points. Barclays Bank Eaglets also flew over Kenya Poly 39-12 while JKUATS dimmed Multi Media University (MMU) 49-26.