Equity Hawks Triumph Over KPA In Game II Of KNBL Final Playoffs

Red-hot Equity Hawks are one step away from bagging the Kenya National Basketball Women's Premier League title after defeating defending champions Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) on Sunday at the Nyayo Gymnasium. The Bankers hammered the Dockers 66-64 in Game Two of the five-game series with the remaining three games scheduled to take place in Mombasa next weekend. Equity will be looking forward to win one match out the three remaining to be crowned champions while KPA will have to win all the three remaining games to defend the title for the third consecutive times. The Bankers won Game One on Saturday 67-62 before, before Sunday’s victory. Equity started the game on a wrong foot losing the first quarter 16-20 before roaring in the second quarter winning 20-08 as the game went to halftime break with scores standing at 36-28 in favor of the Bankers. After the break, KPA came out much stronger winning 21-17 before another narrow win of 15-13 in the last quarter but it was too late for the visitors as the game ended 66-64 at the final buzzer in Equity's favor. Sensational Betty Kananu (175-G/F-1992) scored team high of 18 points as Maryanne Nyagaki and Rita Onyango (1996) added 22 points combined for the Bankers. Grace Irebu was once again KPA's star, dropping a game-high 24 points as Selina Okumu and captain Natalie Akinyi added 23 points combined. Equity Hawks head coach Benson Oluoch was over the moon after the game. "KPA is a tough team, so until we win third match is when I can celebrate. We have an uphill task ahead of us in Mombasa but I’m glad my girls have improved a lot, they showed some class with most of them this being their first time in a final," Oluoch said. KPA head coach Anthony Ojukwu admitted it was a tough match but promised fireworks in Mombasa when they host Equity. "We played badly in the first half but we came back strong in the second half, brought some energy but it didn't go as we planned. We are going back to the drawing board and prepare well for Mombasa games, hoping to use home court advantage as they did and emerge victors," Ojukwu said.
Courtesy of: citizen.digital