Home team Nairobi City Thunder on Thursday night beat South African opponents to put daylight between themselves and their Group ‘A’ opponents in East Division qualifiers for Africa’s premier club tournament, the Basketball Africa League (BAL).
Nairobi City Thunder, playing before a partisan home crowd at Nyayo National Stadium Gymnasium, outscored South African team ‘Made By Ball Blue Soldiers’ 105-59 in a one-sided match to make a big statement in its quest to qualify for the semi-finals of the tournament dubbed ‘Africa Champions Clubs Road to BAL Elite 16.’
In a show of dominance, a well-oiled Nairobi City Thunder displayed good defence and good ball movement to beat their South African opponents.
It is the sort of performance that left Nairobi City Thunder’s assistant coach, Collins Gaya, purring.
“Our opponents were physical, making difficult for us to take shots. We needed to play more defensively so as to stop them from picking rebounds. In all, I am happy with the performance tonight,” Gaya observed.
Gaya downplayed his team’s big win, asking his players not to read too much into their 43-point margin of victory.
The coach also singled out Garang Diing, Albert Adera, and Ken Wachira for special praise.
“I congratulate my entire team on the victory, but more specifically Garang Diing, Albert Adera and Ken Wachira who came from the technical bench to take the team to another level in the final two quarters,” said Gaya.
He pointed out that his six-foot, nine-inch Sudanese-Lebanese professional player, Ater Majok, proved a key asset in blocs as he ejected many ring-bound balls from their opponents.
“Tylor Ongwae was key to our victory as he played a good defense, and was also accurate in executing free-throws that gave us victory,” said Gaya.
South Africa-trained coach Faustin Mgendi, who founded Nairobi City Thunder, said: “We resorted to playing man-to-man game rather than zone defence to stop the South Africans, who are experienced and very good in shooting.”
On Friday, Nairobi City Stars were scheduled to play their second match in Group ‘A’ against Kriol Stars from Cape Verde.
“Winning against Cape Verde will automatically place us in the semi-finals, which is a good thing. My players are focused on the task ahead,” said Mgendi.
On Thursday, MBB raced to an early 8-0 point lead against Nairobi City Thunder, sending the home fans into panic mode.
The team’s head coach Bradley Ibs, made quick changes, introducing Majok, who scored the home team’s first three-pointer.
Veteran Ongwae weighed in with critical points, including a three-pointer that tied the scores 10-10.
Then Adera, who also had a good game in Thunder’s defence, put City Thunder ahead for the first time, the scores reading 12-10.
Nairobi City Thunder, who are on two points, lead Group ‘A’ standings on goal aggregate. Kriol Stars are also on two points, having beaten third-placed Brave Hearts of Malawi 89-58.
Urunani of Burundi top Group ‘B’ standings with two points, having won their opener 87-34 against Zambi’s Metro Magic.
Uganda’s City Oilers are second in the group on two points, having beaten Fox Basketball 77-47 in their opening match.
Two finalists will qualify from Elite 16 Division East Nairobi qualifier to play in BAL 2025 final to be staged in South Africa.
The top two teams from the eight-team East Division qualifiers will qualify for 2025 BAL. The two teams will join another two from West Division qualifiers.
Eight teams, among them hosts South Africa and champions Petro de Luanda of Angola, have earned a direct ticket to the 12-team 2025 BAL finals.
While Saturday is rest day, from Sunday, the tournament will move to the Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani Indoor Gymnasium.
On Sunday, Nairobi City Thunder will play its final Group ‘A’ preliminary round match against Brave Hearts of Malawi from 8pm.
In other matches, Fox Basketball from South Sudan will play Urunani from Burundi, while Metro Magic from Zambia will lock horns with City Oilers from Uganda.
Brave Hearts from Malawi will wind up their campaign at the group stage with a match against ‘Made By Ball Blue Soldiers’ from South Africa.
