Basketball in Africa

Riham Warriors 102-92 Tiger Head Power
Charging Rhinos 68-60 Diamonds in the Sun
During the last shooting practice prior to Friday’s show down between Riham Warriors and Tiger Head Power, Gad Eteu told Ronnie Kasewu he needs him to score. Kasewu did exactly that. The guard turned forward got out of his shell for game and season high 23 points including four 3-pointers to lead Riham Warriors to a 102-92 win over Power at YMCA.
Warriors started the game with 3 treys from Steven Okiasi (2) and Kasewu as they registered the biggest first quarter performance of the season with a 29 points outburst.
“Our strategy was to start well and build the game from there” Eteu said “It was about creating space for comfortable shots”
Steven Okiasi added 21 points for Warriors (4-4) going 5-for-7 from beyond the arc.
Ivan Enabu played his first game of the season and water-marked it. The quick point guard netted 17 points and constantly kept the tempo of the game each time he was on. “I told him to play good defense first and offense follow. It paid off” Eteu said.
Power trailed by as much as 20 points at some point but drew level near mid-fourth quarter and coach Bernes Akunda bemoaned lapses and inconsistencies in defense as well as his team’s slow start as only Joseph Ikong got going right from tip-off scoring 10 of his 20 points in the opening period. “The guys started slow and had many moments of lapse on defense. We would close the gap and allover a sudden the deficit is big again in a minute or 2. It was that inconsistency that hurt us” he said on the loss.
Power were without Philip Ameny who was serving his second of the 8 game ban and clearly missed as the guys who stepped in didn’t contribute as much for the team offensively. Micheal Kojo, Isac Afidra, Derrick Mbusi and David Kiberu combined for a mere 21 points.
“I think his (Ameny) absence affected us as well. He had been averaging almost 20 points and we need to get that from the guys that came on but didn’t get as much.” “Derrick (Mbusi) and Daniel (Owiti) played well. Afidra and Kojo returned prematurely from their back problems because we needed them and am happy they are getting back”
Paul Odong scored team high 21 points including a score leveling 3-pointer at 74 with just over six minutes to the final buzzer for Power (4-5), Abdullahi Ramadhan had 15 points and Norman Blick contributed 12 points.
Meanwhile, Charging Rhinos overcame Diamonds in the sun for their fourth victory of the season