KNBL Playoffs: Dumas And Blades On Cloud Nine After Quarter-Final Wins

Equity Dumas head coach Carrey Odhiambo has applauded his boys for their effort and class to overcome Ulinzi Warriors 72-63 and win Game One of the quarter-final playoff of the Kenya National Basketball Men’s Premier League. The bankers now lead 1-0 in the quarter-final playoff being played in best-of-three series, with Game Two and Game Three scheduled to take place next weekend at the Nyayo Gymnasium, Nairobi. “We won the game according to the plan, even though we didn’t play as well as we should have. Getting into the next game we know it’s a do or die game we have to get back to playing as we should,” said Odhiambo. “Winning the playoffs is very difficult, we just have to get better at our offensive sets and our offensive execution has to get better and most of all has the mentality of winning. Sometimes we don’t take things very seriously but we are going back to winning easily which is not easy also. Our defense, team work and team mentality is going to win us the game,” he added.

Elsewhere, Strathmore Blades head coach Tony Ochieng ’ whose side also has one foot into the semi-finals after beating USIU Tigers in Game one of the quarter-final playoff last weekend, has applauded his boys for a great show. Strathmore had a convincing result against their fellow varsity side, after thrashing them 82-51 at the Nyayo Gymnasium on Sunday. “We did well in all angles, the boys really deserved the win, we were well prepared, everything worked well for us; all the plans we had in mind worked well. One thing I liked was the character and spirit, we really pushed and we were superb especially on our offense and these are the things we have been working on the whole of the second leg,” noted Ochieng’. He added, “Our offense has been very good, shots coming in and also our individual brilliance playing a big role.” Ochieng’ has now shifted focus to Game Two and Game Three set for next weekend, but is hoping to call it a day after winning Game Two. “I hope the boys will maintain the momentum and perform well, I know our opponents will come very hard on us in Game Two but again as we say these are playoffs so we will treat them the same way we did last weekend,” he said. “Our business is to make sure we don’t go all the way to Game Three and that we close the business on Saturday during Game Two.” If Strathmore Blades qualify for the semi-final playoffs, they will face defending champions Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) in the semis.
Courtesy of: citizen.digital