Basketball in Africa

At Lugogo
KIU Titans Vs Falcons 6:30pm
Warriors Vs UCU Canons 8:30pm

The ANBL playoff semifinal action returns to Lugogo Indoor Stadium this evening with two university sides seeking to make finals for the first time.
KIU Titans tied the series against Falcons at 2-2 after holding on to a 72-70 win on Wednesday night at YMCA to take the best of five series to a decider. The closely defensive series opened up in game 4 when both teams for the first time scored more than 56 points and without doubt game 5 will be an offensive affair. Steven Omony has averaged 14.5 points in these series and leads the falcons offense along with big man, Philip Ameny who has averaged 11.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in the four games. The pair will try to push Falcons back to the finals after a two year absence at the climax of the post season. “They deserve to be here so do we but going into tonight’s game we have to compete with a sense of urgency for 40 minutes” Falcons’ coach Gad Eteu said. Falcons’ back court of Geoffrey Omondi and Abdalah Ramadhan has been kept at bay throughout the series and have to step up.
Former Falcon, Richard Osano has led KIU throughout the series averaging 14.5 points. The forward, along with point guard, Salim Ali who exploded for 25 points in game 4 will lead the university side’s quest for a place in this year’s finals. “We did not do a good job on Ali but today we will” Eteu added. Center, Micheal Makiadi bettered Ameny on the boards and will be important in Titans’ defensive game along with Moses Olobo. KIU’s starting #2, Nelson Njau will be vital on both ends of the floor especially the offensive end if gets his shots falling.
Meanwhile UCU Canons who shouted their intensions from the house tops with elimination of Dmark Power allowed Warriors an unlikely route back to set up a third successive game 5 match-up at this level. Suudi Ulanga has been in the pink of form throughout the post season and has averaged 17.5 points in these particular series and along with center, Desmond Owili who has bested all warriors big men and averaged 13.8 points will lead UCU’s push for a place in the finals. Martin Okwako, Boniface Okello and Brian Namake off the bench will be important in the push with their defensive abilities.
However, UCU’s point may play to Warriors’ advantage. The form and choice of shots by their starting point guard is nowhere near the best and it is no different for the substitute, Innocent Odur whose form has gone down as the post season progresses. Warriors have not had a consistent scorer in these series and all players have been average. “It’s just another game but it is going to be totally different” Warriors guard, Sirus Kiviri said. With last year’s match up being decided in Over Time and also seeing just 3 Canons complete the game, Nicholas Natuhereza has improved his team’s defensive and mental discipline as well as attitude 10-fold and surely the team won’t face similar foul trouble.
Which teams do you reckon will go through?