Connect with us

General News

Kenya: Ulinzi Warriors, Equity Hawks Stand in Line for KBF Final Berths

Published

4 years ago

on

[ad_1]

Nairobi — National men and women’s basketball league defending champions Ulinzi Warriors and Equity Hawks remain on course for the defense of their various titles after taking a 2-0 lead each in the best of five semi-final series over the weekend.

The two sides are just one game away from qualifying for consecutive finals, with Hawks set to face similar foes to last season, Kenya Ports Authority, who are also leading 2-0.

Warriors took a significant step to the final after edging out a stubborn Blades by a 10-point margin in a 79-69 win on Sunday in Game Two.

“We played really well despite some few blips but taking a 2-0 lead in the series is a massive confidence boost for my team. Now we just need to maintain our calm and composure to wind up the series in Game Three. We don’t want it to go beyond,” said William Balozi, the Warriors head coach.

He added; “Our target remains to defend our title and we will do our best to achieve that.”

Once again, it was the duo of Valentine Nyakinda and skipper Eric Mutoro who led the Warriors through, the lanky Nyakinda earning 18 points for his side while Mutoro contributed 16.

Victor Bosire who clocked the most minutes in the match after being on the court for 38mins 15secs had 14 points, six of them coming from shots beyond the arc.

In a tough encounter, Strathmore led 34-30 at halftime, having put up a massive second quarter fight after trailing by three points at the end of the first quarter.

But, rallied on by the trio of Mutoro, Nyakinda and Bosire, Warriors outscored the University lads by a 17-point margin in the third quarter and despite slumping in the final quarter, they had already done the job.

Despite Cliff Alella’s game high 21 points for the Blades, they could not push to level the series and now hope to upset the odds in Game Three and force the series to spill over.

Meanwhile, Equity Dumas also took a 2-0 lead over KPA Men in the other men’s semi-final after clinching Game Two with a 78-66 score.

Victor Ochieng spilled a game-high 29 points with 21 of them coming from beyond the arc as Equity, playing in the semis for the first time ever, made their statement with a convincing victory.

“It was a good performance and we hope we can build on to the third game and wrap up the series,” said Carey Odhiambo, the Dumas head coach.