Basketball in Africa

Ulinzi Warriors, on Sunday at the Nyayo National Stadium gymnasium, learned the cruel way that Griffin Ligare, the Nairobi City Thunder point guard Griffin Ligare is just unstoppable in the Kenya Basketball Federation men's Premier League.
He single-handedly delivered the win for Thunder as they beat Ulinzi 85-75 in one of the upsets from the weekend’s inter-conference games of the KBF league.
Ligare was the dominant player on the court finishing with a season-high of 47 points. He grabbed four rebounds, five steals and two assists scoring seven three-point shots and six free shots.
By halftime, he had scored 24 points including four three-pointers and matched his performance in second half.
A sizeable number of fans who had thronged the gymnasium turned partisan cheering his every touch of the ball. His moves were clearly intimidating the opponents whose body size were bigger than his.
The matchup between top side in Western Conference (Ulinzi) against second-placed side in Eastern Conference (Thunder) was a cracker.
In the first quarter, both teams were at par as Thunder won 18-16 and were tied twice at 5-all and 11-all. Second quarter was a see-saw performance as both sides interchanged the lead all through with a margin of one and two points utmost.
The game was tied 27-all at one point as Ulinzi went on to win 23-22. Thunder enjoyed a one point lead at halftime. Thunder held tight in third quarter leading all through to win 17-14 and stretch the lead to four points.
Ulinzi’s main shooter Ancette Wafula spent more time on the bench as Ligare who played for full game gave the soldiers a hard time especially from the arc. The opening minute of fourth quarter was eventful.
Ulinzi took the lead at 58-57 with just 9:36 on the clock but Ligare hit back with a basket at 9:29 to tilt the lead at 59-58. That was the turning point for Thunder as they went on to dominate and score points freely.
Extended their lead
With four minutes played, they had extended their lead to eight points leading 69-61 and made it ten after seven minutes with a 76-66 lead. Thunder finished the quarter top with a 28-22 score.
Kevin Chogo added 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. William Ochieng and Bernard Mufutu top scored for Ulinzi with 17 points each. Ochieng grabbed nine rebounds, five steals and 6 assists while Mufutu had three rebounds, two steals and one assist.
Thunder scored 21 points from the three-point line after 15 attempts and had 14 points from free shots. Ulinzi attempted 23 times from the arc scoring eight shots and had 10/23 at the free-throw line.
At Menengai High School, host Nakuru Club produced another shocker beating defending champions Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) 74-69. Nakuru won the first three quarters 21-12, 21-13 and 21-19 before KPA snatched the fourth 25-12.
Michael Kariuki top-scored for Nakuru with 16 points while Arou Ramadhan scored 14 for KPA.
In Nairobi, Strathmore University showed no respect for their seniors beating Blades 68-58 in a battle of siblings. Blades led 30-22 at halftime. Allan Ouma led scoring for Strathmore with 18 points as Peter Shilton scored 15 for Blades.
United States International University- Africa (USIU-A) won 68-56 against Zetech University with 15 points from Alvin Nyangweso and 14 from Joel Ntambwe. For Zetech, Joshua Kisali scored the first 10 points of the game to top-score with 20.
USIU-A scored 11 points from the free-throw line and Zetech had nine while both teams made a single 3-pointer each.
In other games, Abel Nson scored 22 points as Nairobi Aviation College beat Umoja 71-59 while KU Pirates beat Mennonite 63-54.
In the women's Premier League, Equity Bank beat Masaku Sparks 73-64 with Hilda Indasi scoring 25 points and Samba Mjomba adding 20. Betty Kananu scored 12 points in fourth quarter to top score for Masaku with game-high 32 points that included 12 free shots.
The bankers had three three-pointers and 12 free shots compared to Masaku’s 16 free shots.
Sprite Storms came from 17-22 down at halftime to beat Co-operative Bank 49-43. Angela Luchivya scored 13 points for Storms and Mercy Achieng top scored for the bankers with 10.
Rachael Opinya and Mollete Achieng combined for 31 points as Strathmore University beat Eagle Wings 56-38. Lucy Machuma scored 14 points for the Eagles.
In another game, KPA beat KU Oryx 67-24.
KBF Weekend Results
Saturday: Nakuru Club 74 KPA 69, Baraka Xtreme 61 Eldonets 56, Parklands Baptist 20 Nebulas-Kakamega 0 (walkover), KU Oryx 24 KPA Ladies 67, KU Pirates 63 Mennonite 54, 4-Christ 55 ANU 61, Sprite Storms 49 Co-op Bank 43, Strathmore University 56 Eagle Wings 38, Strathmore University 68 Blades 58, Umoja 59 Nairobi Aviation College 71; Sunday: Little Prince 37 Barclays Bank 44, Blazers 44 Trailblazers 68, Equity Bank 73 Masaku Sparks 64, USIU-A 68 Zetech University 56, Ulinzi Warriors 75 Thunder 85.