NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 23 – Nairobi City Thunder have qualified for back to back editions of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) after a thunderous, commanding 109-70 victory over Mozambique’s Ferroviario da Beira in the semi finals of the East Division Elite 16 at the Kasarani Gymnasium Saturday night.
Albert Odero once again put in a monstrous show, sinking a game-high 32 points in a full-to-capacity, deafening-decibel-level Kasarani Gymnasium.
Against the Mozambican side, Thunder just needed victory to assure themselves of a place at the BAL In Rwanda next year, and they did so not just with command, but with finesse and crowd appeasing performance.
Dunks and dimes were thrown for fun, as the capacity crowd was kept on their toes entire game. Odero, who wowed the crowd with his superb performance was one of six Thunder players with double digit points.
Lance Robert Thomas (15), Eugene Adera (14), Ater Majok (13), David Deng (11) and skipper Tylor Ongwae (10) all put in a shift for the Kenyan champions in the brilliant victory.
“When was the last time Kasarani was this full? It just shows how much basketball has grown in Kenya and how much support there is. This was massive and we are grateful to everyone who came out tonight,” skipper Ongwae said after the match.
His sentiments were shared by coach Brad Ibs; “The arena tonight was electric and the atmosphere was special. It was a great environment for us to thrive in and this means a lot to us.”
On achieving victory, Ibs was delighted; “We just had one mission tonight, to come out and qualify for the BAL and I am glad the players did that.”
Thunder led from gun to tape and coach Ibs even had the luxury to rest all his stars in the last quarter and keep them fresah for Sunday’s final.
The Kenyan cjamps meant business from tip off. They dominated the paint and da Beira had little response. With 4:51 to play in the first quarter a Majok dunk took the scores to 16-6 and they had to call a time out to try fix the leak.
However, Thunder dominated and led 22-12 at the end, stretching the lead to 20 points at halftime, a Lance Thomas dunk once again lifting the roof off for a 52-32 lead. Odero was also in sensational form, his spin and dunk movements clearly being too much for the Mozambicans.
Thunder were too strong in the paint and had 56 points from herein compared to only 32 by da Beira.
In the last quarter, Faheem Juma, Bramwell Mwombe and youngster Powell Owino were given a run in, Faheem doing his signature back to back threes for six points.
Owino, who only just turned 19 in September, wowed the crowd with his dribbling and his no look pass to Ariel Okall who finished it off with a dunk roared the arena into life. He topped it off with his two points off a coast-to-coast dribble and a well cooked lay-out as the bench went crazy.
Thunder will now take on Johannesburg Giants in Sunday evening’s final, the South African side having stunned favorites Dar City 71-69 in the early semi-final.
The star-studded Dar had rallied in the last two minutes of the game when trailing by six points, Raphiael Putney’s jump shot and Deng Deng’s throw from downtown squeezing the gap to just a point at 69-70.
Jo’Burg called a time out with 19 seconds to play to re organize their defensive approach. On resumption, possession with Dar, Deng made another attempt from the three point line but hit the rim.
The South Africans picked the rebound, went on the offense and Sibanyoni Sandile drew a foul, going to the free throw line and made one of two with two seconds to play.
They called a time out after this and on resumption, the burly Youssou Ndoye received the ball just below the rim, but was blocked superbly by three players as he went up.
Dar will now face da Beira in the third place match, while Jo’Burg and Thunder face off in the finale, in a repeat of their Group A fixture which Thunder won 86-83. Already, coach Ibs is looking forward to the match.
“They are a team that I really like. They play hard, have a really good team chemistry and have different types of weapons. They have players who can drive, they have shooters. I know they wanted to play us as well and it would be a nice game, very competitive,” the coach said.
With the two tickets to BAL already sorted the two will be playing for East Division pride.
