Basketball in Africa

Eagle Wings and Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), two former champions of the women and men premier leagues respectively, had a fruitful weekend coming off with two wins each as they seek to reclaim their lost glory.

Eagle Wings beat Ulinzi Blades 69-65 on Sunday as Annerose Atieno top scored with a game high 26 points. Blades captain Bridgit Nanzala scored 25 individual points with Rebecca Sarange adding 19. Eagles had on Saturday beaten Kenyatta University Oryx 69-36 helped by a combined 28 points from Eunice Ouma and Evelyne Nora.

Oryx top scorer was Betty Kananu with 19 points. Blades beat Strathmore University 55-43 on Saturday after leading 30-24 at halftime. Nanzala scored 20 points while Strathmore's top scorer was Mollete Achieng scoring 11 points.

Co-operative Bank had a mixed outing winning one game and losing another. On Saturday, the bankers beat Safe Spaces 56-33 with Angela Namirimu scoring 10 points. Safe Spaces trailed 17-20 at the breather and had Evelyne Itabu top score with 14 points. On Sunday, they lost 37-44 to United States International University- Africa (USIU-A).

The students won the first, second and fourth quarters 8-5, 13-10 and 17-14 while Co-op Bank won the third 8-6 in the low scoring game. Hilda Indasi led the scores for USIU-A with 12 points and Grace Wanjiku for Co-op Bank with 13 points. Champions Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) made good their homeground advantage to beat Sprite Storms 51-34. Lynette Atieno scored 11 points for KPA and Yvonne Akinyi 10 for Storms.

Kenya College of Accountancy- University (KCA-U) beat Western Delight 44-27 in Kakamega. KPA men side reaped maximum points with two home wins against Blazers and Lions. The dockers beat Lions by half a basket in their 49-48 win down from a 25-19 halftime lead. Ariel Okal had 12 points for KPA and Joseph Ouma added 11 as Richard Adega top scored for Lions with 14 points. Okal led the rout against Blazers scoring 16 points in the 94-32 win. It was a one-sided encounter as KPA won all quarters 21-9, 28-7, 23-3 and 24-13 respectively.  

Co-operative Bank registered a 55-36 win over Kenya Airports Authority (KAA), Mark Mayien scoring 8 points for the bankers and Aleu Dhol 10 for KAA. Strathmore University beat Kenyatta University Pirates 59-44 with Blades going down 36-57 to Ulinzi Warriors. Pirates suffered the second loss of 63-79 against Thunder in a game both third and fourth quarters ended in identical 20-all scores for both teams.

Nakuru Club earned advantage in the battle against relegation beating Equity Bank 57-51 while United States International University- Africa (USIU-A) won 52-40 against Terror.  

KBF Weekend Results: Saturday- Nebulas- Kakamega 47 KCA-U 49, Western Delight 27 KCA-U 44, KPA 51 Sprite Storms 34, KPA 94 Blazers 32, Ulinzi Blades 55 Strathmore University 43, Safe Spaces 33 Co-op Bank 56, Eagle Wings 69 KU Oryx 36, Dankind Academy 61 Upper Hill 31, KU Pirates 44 Strathmore University 59, KAA 36 Co-op Bank 55; Sunday- KPA 49 Lions 48, Lakeside 59 KCA-U 42, Lakeside 77 ANU 71, Upper Hill 20 Trailblazers 0, USIU Flames 44 Co-op Bank 37, Eagle Wings 69 Ulinzi Blades 65, Thunder 79 KU Pirates 63, Blades 36 Ulinzi Warriors 57, Nakuru Club 57 Equity Bank 51, USIU-A 52 Terror 40.