Basketball in Africa

Owili (R) rises to shoot against Falcons’ Herbert Akita in last season’s quartefinal play-offs at YMCA. Owili returns on Sunday after a one-year ban. PHOTO BY ISMAIL KEZAALA 

Tuesday results
MEN: UCU 80-76 Falcons (OT)
(Series tied at 1-all)
W: A1 Challenge 49-39 KIU Rangers
(A1 win series 2-0)
TOMORROW AT YMCA
Warriors vs. Ndejje, 8pm
Lady Canons vs. Mak Sparks, 6pm

KAMPALA. Falcons’ Syrus Kiviri was in the mood to deny UCU Canons a second chance. His former teammates just wanted to give Desmond Owili a chance to play this year.
UCU defied Falcons, winning 80-76 in overtime at YMCA court on Tuesday night, to tie the three-match National Basketball League quarterfinal series at 1-all.
The decisive Game Three is on Sunday. Owili’s one-year ban expires today. Was Owili ever a motivating factor to survive elimination?
“No doubt, we wanted him for at least one game,” coach Nicholas Natuhereza said. The last time he played for his club side, the Kenyan centre scored 18 points.
That ended in an 82-76 loss to Falcons at the same stage last year and an altercation with an umpire.
“We have beaten UCU with Desmond there so we can do it again,” Stephen Omony, scorer of a game-high 29 points and 16 rebounds last November, said.
Kiviri’s three with 2.1 seconds of regulation time left tied the game at 70-up. The shooting guard finished with 20 and Stephen Omony scored 19 and 12 rebounds. Peter Elungat had 14. The university side bossed the extra five minutes but didn’t run away even as Kiviri fouled out. Actually, this result was probably earned much earlier.
Falcons had led 38-23 at the end of the second period and increased that to a 16-point advantage.
Point guard Sande Okot and forward Brian Namake, nine points and eight rebounds forced a 17-point turnaround to help Sudi Ulanga to a game-high 28 points and seven rebounds. However, Ulanga’s conversion rate of 6 for 13 from the field, 4 for 14 from behind the arc and 2 for 8 at the charity line left a lot to be desired. Natuhereza admitted as much. “We still haven’t played a great game in my opinion. We still need better.” The odds will be against them as they have never beaten Falcons in playoff series.
Ivan Lumanyika awoke from his Game One slumber with 25 points and 12 rebounds. Lumanyika will now have support on the inside in Owili.

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