KPA fall to Burundian side in Basketball Africa League opener

Landry Ndikumana

Kenya Ports Authority started their Basketball Africa League (BAL) Elite 16 campaign on a losing note, falling 72-43 to Urunani of Burundi on Tuesday. The Burundians broke away on a 12-0 run and led 18-5 in the first quarter. When the buzzer sounded for the break, the scores were at 36-13 in their favour. Nothing changed in the last half as Urunani continued to dominate the game, taking a 54-27 advantage at the end of the third quarter. The winners had their biggest lead of the game with the scores standing at 63-29 as an overwhelmed KPA failed to stop the onslaught. Coach Anthony Ojukwu expressed his disappointment but added that the team played well despite the challenges. "It was a bad day as things didn't work but I am happy with how we played," said Ojukwu. He went on, "We put this behind, we plan for the next game." George Williams was the only docker to notch double figures, sinking 13 points. John Wiljas and Philip Odhiambo combined for 15. Urunani were pepped by captain Landry Ndikumana (198-F-1995), Adonis Filer (195-G-1993, college: FAU) and Baru Adjegi who hit 18, 13 and 12 points respectively. KPA play host club Cape Town Tigers Wednesday in a must-win game before completing their fixture against NBA Academy Africa on Thursday. The semi-finals will be played on Friday after a one day break with the final programmed for Saturday. The winners of the semi-finals and winners of the third-place Games will qualify to the third edition of the BAL 2023. The West Division of the competition ended in Abidjan, Ivory Coast with Abidjan Club, SLAC of Guinee and Stade Malien of Mali qualifying.
Courtesy of: the-star.co.ke



Tags : LANDRY NDIKUMANA, NEW STAR, BASKETBALL AFRICA LEAGUE BASKETBALL