This archive report was first published on 2 November 2019.
Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) made a resounding start to their Basketball Africa League (B.A.L) Qualifiers Round One campaign in Madagascar, thrashing Beau Vallon Heat Basketball Club of Seychelles 131-54.
On Thursday, the Kenyans defeated hosts Gendarmerie Nationale Basketball Club (GNBC) 98-84 in their opening match.
Throughout the game, KPA dominated all quarters, starting with a 33-12 win in the first quarter and a huge 28-6 win in the second quarter, leading 61-18 at halftime.
After the break, KPA continued with the same tempo, registering a 34-12 win and winding up with a comfortable 36-24 in the last quarter.
Kennedy Wachira showed his class, scoring 27 points for the Dockers, while Okall Koranga scored 21 points.
Assistant head coach Samuel Ocholla praised his team's performance, saying, “Game was good, everyone was confident and our strategy worked very well.”
Kenya Ports Authority is competing in Group D in Antananarivo, Madagascar, alongside Cobra Sport Club of South Sudan, GNBC of Madagascar, Beau Vallon Heat of Seychelles, and TBA of Comoros.
The top two teams in each group, plus two wildcard teams, will qualify for Round Two, which will take place later this month in Rwanda for the East Division and Cameroon for the West Division.
The top three teams from each division will then qualify for the Basketball Africa League, where they will meet the six already seeded top teams, making a total of 12 teams.
The seeded top six teams are from Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Nigeria, Senegal, and Angola.
The Basketball Africa League is a new competition in Africa, replacing the Zone Five for men, and features a partnership between FIBA and NBA.
