Saturday, 7 November 2026
Kenyan Digest

Thunder move second with Umoja win

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By CAXTON APOLLO
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Thunder men's basketball team moved to second place on the Premier League standings after beating Umoja 70-41 at Nyayo National Stadium Gymnasium on Sunday.

Thunder, who are chasing their first ever league crown, took their tally to 30 having won 14 matches and lost two.

Defending champions Kenya Ports Authority, who had no engagement, dropped to third spot on 30 points with 13 wins and four losses.

On Sunday, Umoja - who had recently given champions KPA a run for their money before losing 70-83 - failed to sparkle against red-hot Thunder.

International shooting guard Griffin Ligare and Faheem Juma hit encouraging three-pointers with forward Kevin Chogo scoring ten points in the first quarter. The trio contributed 18 points among themselves handing Thunder a 26-12 lead at end of the first quarter.

Coach Kevin Sunguti's Umoja were under heavy pressure with shooting guard Michael Munene, Gilbert Obiero and Nick Ogol kept out of the game as a result of tight marking failing to get clear shooting space.

With Umoja's playmakers failing to deliver, Thunder had a field day leaving power forward Chogo and shooting guard Faheem Juma to score at will in the process establishing some daylight with a 42-20 lead at half time.

Umoja were handed a 21-11 beating in the third quarter and edging the fourth at 9-7 it had no bearing on the final score as Thunder coasted to their big win.

Forward Chogo scored 17 points, Juma added 10 and Ligare was restricted to eight for the winners.

Umoja, who kept their eighth position on 20 points intact, had Nick Ogol and Douglas Kivati replying with 11 points each. Thunder coach Sadat Gaya said: "We had to go back to the drawing board after we lost to Eldonets. We are still optimistic of lifting our first crown this season."

In the women's Premier League, Tangit Sparks garnered maximum two points when they dismissed Kenyatta University Oryx 47-39 on Saturday.

Forward Celia Okumu, who hit eight early points led Sparks to a 13-7 first quarter run. Sparks went ahead to lead 23-13 at the breather.

Sparks coach Justus Akhwesa said: "We played according to plan and the victory has boosted our play-offs chances."

Oryx coach Gitau Waringo said: "We committed many unnecessary turnovers to our opponents advantage. We are still in the running to qualify for the play-offs."

In the men's Division One League, Kenyatta University Pirates defeated Strathmore University 68-57. Strathmore were overpowered in last two quarters after having restricted Pirates to a one basket (27-25) lead at half time.

In other lower tier matches at the same venue, Zetech University humiliated Trailblazers 70-29, Lions won 48-42 against Nakuru Club while Riara University escaped with a narrow 69-68 victory over hard-fighting but unlucky NIBS.