Basketball in Africa

United States International University- Africa (USIU-A) men and women's basketball teams registered high scores at the weekend in the Kenya Basketball Federation national classic league at the Nyayo National Stadium gymnasium.
Both teams were just shy of the century mark. The women's team were first on the court against another university side, Kenyatta University Oryx. They comfortably won 90-28.
This was a one-sided game as USIU-A restricted Oryx to single digit scores in all quarters winning 21-6, 21-8, 20-7 and 28-7 respectively.
Diane Nikose was the top scorer for USIU-A with 16 points and Cynthia Irankunda raked in 13. Berine Okoth scored seven points for Oryx and Rosetta Ngugi added five.
From the free-throw line, USIU-A scored 19 points against Oryx's 11 while 15 points for USIU-A came off the three-point shots against three for Oryx.
This was the second straight win for the students after they opened with a narrow  66-45 win over Ulinzi Blades.
Debutants Strathmore Swords broke no sweat in their first game of the season after being  awarded a 20-0 walkover win against Mennonites who failed to show up.
In another match Sprite Storms beat Kenya College of Accountancy- University (KCA-U) 63-14. Linet Mukiri top-scored for Storms with 16 points and Celestine Isabwa replied with seven for KCA-U.
First win of the season
USIU-A Tigers, the men's team overran Mennonites 98-52. Alex Ramazani scored a game high of 31 points to lead the students to their first win of the season in two games.
They followed the same script authored by the women's team dominating the game and winning the quarters 28-15, 26-11, 19-16 and 25-10 respectively.
Collins Ochieng had 14 points for Mennonites and Felix Ochieng13. The shooting superiority of USIU-A was evident as they made 14 free-throws against Mennonites’ nine and three 3-point shots against one for their opponents.
Zetech University made a winning debut in the league beating a hurriedly-assembled Nairobi Aviation College 68-52. Joshua Kisali scored five three-point shots to top score for Zetech with 23 points. Ben Oluoch scored a game high 32 points for Nairobi Aviation.
Zetech won the first three quarters 16-11, 20-8 and 16-12 before Nairobi Aviation carried home the consolation fourth 21-16. Nairobi Aviation sunk14 free-throws against Zetech’s 10 while Zetech had eight three-point shots against Nairobi Aviation’s four.
Jeremy Yongo, the Zetech captain said the start was good but acknowledged that hard work lies ahead. “We cannot say this win reflects how the season will look like for us. There are more tougher teams to meet later on,” he told sportsnewsarena.com.
“As a team, we know the difference between where we have come from and where we are in terms of competition. We are well prepared for anything.” Yongo added.
Missed three key players
Co-operative Bank who were without head coach Carey Odhiambo and three key players beat Kenya Airports Authority 61-49. Frederick Odongo scored 16 points and Salim Ali 14. KAA’s top scorer was Luka Lukongo with 13.
Blades from Strathmore University completed a winless weekend for Mennonites winning 79-59.
Meanwhile, USIU-A (women) and Strathmore University (men) will represent Nairobi Conference in the Zuku Universities Basketball League national finals. The two qualified after emerging top in their respective categories during the finals held on Friday.
Strathmore beat Zetch University 64-62 in the final. George Okoth scored 16 points for Strathmore with Jeremy Opiyo top-scoring for Zetech with 15.
In the women's category,  USIU-A beat Strathmore University 58-33.
KBF Results: KCA University 67 ANU 54, Zetech University 68 Nairobi Aviation College 52, USIU-A Tigers 98 Mennonites 52, USIU-A Flames 90 KU Oryx 28, ANU 71 Parklands Baptist 32, Storms 63 KCA-U 14, Co-op Bank 61 KAA 49, Blades 79 Mennonites 59.