Basketball in Africa

Strathmore Blades inflicted the third defeat to Ulinzi Warriors in the Kenya Basketball Federation men's  Premier League by winning  71-58 on Sunday at the Nyayo National Stadium gymnasium.
The result comes after losses to Nakuru Club and Thunder. Last weekend, the soldiers struggled to a slim 59-57 win over United States International University- Africa (USIU-A). In that game, they had to fight back from 24-29 down at halftime.
Despite the Sunday loss, Ulinzi still leads in the Western Conference with 21 points from 13 games while B are on 18 points from 10 games.
At half time, Blades led 39-35. Ulinzi won first quarter 15-13 and Blades the second 26-20. Third quarter was level 15-all before Blades clinched the fourth 17-8. Shilton Ochieng scored 16 points for Blades and Mike Oketch added 12. For Ulinzi, Victor Odendo and Bernard Mufutu scored 11 and 10 points respectively.
Nakuru Club extended its fine performance this season beating Lions 54-50 after taking a 22-18 halftime lead. Lions won first and fourth quarters 11-6 and 22-20 while Nakuru won the second and third 16-7 and 12-10.
Victor Orare top-scored for Nakuru on 14 points and James Okerio added 11. Marvin Omondi and Simon Mayien jointly scored 10 points for Lions.
In the women's Premier League, Masaku Sparks beat Sprite Storms 49-33. They led 27-12 at halftime. Betty Kananu scored 13 points for Masaku and Pamela Sinda added 11. Susan Akinyi led the scores for Storms with 10 points.
Masaku won first, second and fourth quarters 10-9, 17-3 and 13-12 respectively while third quarter tied at nine all.
USIU-A led 49-9 at half time on their way to beating Mennonites 90-17. Cynthia Odhiambo scored 14 points and Maureen Andalia added 12 for USIU-A.
In division one, World Hope lost the opportunity to push for the leadership of Eastern Conference when they forfeited their game against Don Bosco resulting in a 20-0 walkover loss. Barclays Bank piled more pressure on Western Conference leaders KCA-U winning 57-25 against Parklands Baptist who have won only once from 12 outings.
Abel Kimondo scored 20 points for the bankers who restricted their opponents to single digit scores in all quarters. Kelvin Mutua scored 13 points as visiting Nebulas-Kakamega beat Trailblazers 70-56. Howard Nyerere had 20 points for the losers.
Results: Nebulas-Kakamega 70 Trailblazers 56, Barclays Bank 57 Parklands Baptist 25, World Hope 0 Don Bosco 20 (walkover), USIU Flames 90 Mennonite 17, Masaku Sparks 49 Sprite Storms 33, Lions 50 Nakuru Club 54, Blades 71 Ulinzi Warriors 58.