Basketball in Africa

The students were trailing by a point with only twenty seconds of play remaining and it appeared the bankers had carried the day. However, Biel positioned herself well outside the three-pointer line after receiving the ball from captain Denise Apondi to sink the winning shot.

The match was characterized by close play bringing out the fighting spirit and caution from the two teams which are among the top title contenders. Strathmore University narrowly led 16-15 at halftime and the margin was sustained throughout the game in a match that could qualify to be the tightest so far this season. 

Biel top scored for the students with 14 points while Melissa Akinyi had 10. Catherine Etyang and Linda Alando scored the highest points for the bankers with eight each. Strathmore won the first quarter 11-8 and Co-op Bank the second 7-5 going to the breather. The students snatched home the third quarter 10-8 as the bankers won the fourth 14-13 in a well balanced match.

Eagle Wings dominated from the beginning to the end as they overran United States International University- Africa, (USIU-A), 61-48.

Eagle Wings showed great patience on the ball which gifted them the biggest chunk of possession. USIU-A relied too much on Emma Nyakweba who only managed a basket the whole match eclipsing the aggressive Hilda Indasi.

 

Shani stars for Eagle Wings

Silalei Shani had key blocks for Eagle Wings who opened the lead as early as the fourth minute with the scores reading 9-4 in their favour. On the offensive, the champions switched severally forcing the students to give away many fouls.

Eagle Wings won all the quarters 14-12, 18-12, 13-12 and 16-12. Indasi scored a game-high of 20 points for USIU-A while Vilma Achieng registered 10 for Eagle Wings. Shani and Rose Ouma had nine points each for the champions.

In the men’s premier, champions Co-operative Bank bounced back from their loss to Strathmore University last weekend with a comfortable 58-36 win over USIU-A. The students fell out of contention as early as the second quarter after the bankers opened up an unassailable lead.  

With 17-14 and 13-5 wins in the first two quarters, Co-op Bank proved superior of the two sides scoring baskets at will. Captain Brian Busu started off poorly prompting head coach Carey Odhiambo to rest him in the second quarter.

The bankers completed their rout with 14-8 and 14-9 wins in the third and fourth quarters respectively. James Mwangi top scored for Co-op Bank with 10 points and Christian Mulumba had seven  for USIU-A.

Bad day for Thunder

Early pacesetters Thunder had a bad day in office falling 55-66 to Ulinzi Warriors. The soldiers played a more physical game conceding many shooting fouls but the inaccuracy of Thunder at the free-throw line saved the day for Ulinzi. In total, Ulinzi had 20 team fouls compared to Thunder’s nine.

Ulinzi won the first two quarters 16-12 and 21-10 while Thunder roared in the remaining two winning 17-15 and 16-14. Victor Odendo scored 16 points for Ulinzi and Alen Dhol 12 for Thunder.

Kenya Ports Authority, KPA, had a fruitful day at Makande gymnasium seeing off Mennonite in both men’s and women’s leagues. In the women premier league, they overpowered their Nairobi opponents 73-11 while their male counterparts registered a 62-43 win.

Collated Results: Parklands Baptist 59 Strathmore University 74, World Hope 52 KAA 65, Strathmore University 39 Co-op Bank 37, Ulinzi 66 Thunder 55, USIU-A  Flames 48 Eagle Wings 61, Co-op Bank 58 USIU-A Tigers 36, KPA 73 Mennonite 11 (women), KPA 62 Mennonite 43 (men).