NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 18 – Nairobi City Thunder weathered a rocky start before settling down and thrashing Uganda’s Namuwongo Blazers 89-62 in their opening match of the Elite 16 round of the 2025 Basketball Africa League (BAL).
The Ugandans had taken Thunder toe to toe in the opening two quarters of the game before the Kenyan champions rose to the occasion, exploding in the third and fourth quarters to seal a comfortable victory and set themselves in confidence for the semi-finals.
“I am very happy with the victory especially this being our first game and of course the points difference puts us in a good place to advance to the semi-final. We started off a bit rusty but we settled in and we were mor of ourselves as time went by,” said head coach Brad Ibs after the victory.
His sentiments were shared by skipper Tyler Ongwae who believes the victory puts them out in confidence to seal back-to-back qualifications.
“The first game of the tournament is always nervous but after we got our footing back and we started playing as a team. We have practiced hard over the past one month and we have gelled with the good group we have. Now we just have to go compete,” Ongwae opined.
Thunder were dealt a blow just days to the tournament, with their dependable small forward Garang Ding being ruled oit with an injury in training. They had to quickly draft in a replacement, bringing on board David Deng.
The South Sudanese put in a good shift with seven points over the 15 minute period he played.
“It was definitely a blow not being with Garang for the tournament. He is one of us and has been part of this journey for the third year now and it is a shame he will miss because of his injury situation. But Deng came in and did really well and you couldn’t tell he only practiced with us yesterday. We will definitely miss Garang but I am also happy with how quick Deng has integrated with us,” said coach Ibs.
New signing, American Lance Thomas was Thunder’s toast of the evening with an 18-point performance while Albert Odero had 16. Derrick Ogechi (14) and Tyler Ongwae (13), also chalked double digit points. There were also impressive perfomances for guard Chase Cameron, who did his job of running the floor superbly, deputizing the ever impressive Eugene Adera.
The Ugandans had a fast paced start to the game, leading 25-23 at the end of the first quarter. But, Thunder slowly started pulling back and had a three-point lead at halftime.
With 32 seconds left, Tony Dribella sunk one from the three-point line to tie the game at 40-40, but on the other end, the impressive Lance responded in kind with a beauty from downtown to take Thunder 43-40 up at the break.
In the third quarter, Thunder took control of proceedings and the introduction of Odero spured their offence. In defence, Ater Majok and Lance were leading the protection of the rim, with Thunder completely shutting out the Ugandans to lead 67-51 at the break.
The home side took further control of the game in the last quarter, with Blazers failing to find the answers in offence.
With the game all but wrapped up, coach Ibs had the comfort of ensuring everyone on his bench had some minutes with Bramwell Mwombe, Faheem Juma and youngster Powell Ptieno all coming in. Juma’s first attempt on the rim was off the three-point line, and he made no mistake with a good sqing to add some points to his game as well.
Thunder next face Johannesburg Giants on Thursday night and victory will see them confirm their place in Saturday’s semi-final.
In other opening day matches on Tuesday, Mozambique’s Ferroviaro de Beira edged out Malawi’s Bravehearts 78-66 while the stacked Dar City beat Zambia’s Matero Magic 85-78.
