Basketball in Africa

Masaku Sparks Basketball Club from Machakos County will make their women premier league debut this weekend after being admitted to the Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) league.
They have been included in this weekend's games and will play against Mennonite on Saturday at the Nyayo National Stadium gymnasium.
On Monday during the federation’s annual general meeting, representatives from the club put their case on the floor for inclusion into the league.
After deliberations among delegates, they approved their inclusion together with Daystar University.
KBF chairman Paul Otula said it is in the interest of developing women basketball locally and affirmative action that teams from remote areas get an opportunity to compete at the highest level.
The highlight of the weekend action in the women premier will be Co-operative Bank facing off with Eagle Wings.
The bankers have so far won two games against Kisumu Lady Bucks and Western Delight while Eagles beat Kenyatta University Oryx 52-24.
It will be a tall order for Eagles who lost some of their key players in off-season as they face a bankers side that is more compact. Player-coach Evelyn Kedogo will lead Eagles.
Equity Bank plays Kenya College of Accountancy- University (KCA-U) while USIU-A games in western Kenya have been pushed to next weekend.
Blades face Lions
In men premier league, Blades from Strathmore University will be up against Lions who have lost in their first two games. Zetech University confront Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) as the students chase their second win. KAA has played once and lost to Co-op Bank.
On-form Thunder will be keen to make it three straight wins when they play Equity Bank on Sunday. With Fred Lugasi and Ian Wachiye in their true scoring spirit, it will not be an easy tie for Thunder who have the ever-reliable Griffin Ligare.
Co-operative Bank who have since lost once this season face winless Nairobi Aviation College.
Division one games pitting Lakeside against KCA-U and Eldonets against KCA-U have been postponed but three games are on the cards this weekend. MKU Thika will host Parklands Baptist as World Hope confront EMYBA.
MKU Thika will play their second game against Blazers on Sunday. Meanwhile, KBF has put on notice clubs that have not yet registered for the new season as per the guiding rules and regulations.
In a communication to team managers of the affected clubs, fixtures secretary Joseph Amoko noted that their delay in complying has caused inconveniences to even FIBA.
Weekend Fixtures: Saturday- MKU Thika vs Parklands Baptist (9am, Nyayo gymnasium), Mennonite vs Masaku Sparks (10:30am), Eagle Wings vs Co-op Bank (12pm), Co-op Bank vs Nairobi Aviation College (2pm), Blades vs Lions (4pm); Sunday- Blazers vs MKU Thika (9am), World Hope vs EMYBA (10:30am), Equity Bank Ladies vs KCA-U (12pm), Thunder vs Equity Bank Men (2pm), Zetech University vs KAA (4pm).