This archive report was first published on 1 December 2019.
On Saturday, Ulinzi Warriors took a significant step towards the Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) men Premier League final, defeating defending champions Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) 82-69 in Game One of the semi-finals at the Makande Gymnasium in Mombasa.
Despite KPA's strong start, winning the first quarter 18-10, the Warriors dominated the rest of the game, winning the second, third, and fourth quarters with scores of 22-15, 27-16, and 23-20 respectively.
Victor Bosire and Eric Mutoro led the Warriors with 21 and 20 points respectively, while Ariel Okall and Martin Kitongo scored 12 points each for KPA.
Ulinzi captain John Washika acknowledged the tough test posed by KPA, stating, 'It was a struggle coming back from 18-10 run in the first quarter. We have noticed some few things about their defence and how they are running their offense. We are going to make a few corrections as we prepare for game two tomorrow.'
KPA assistant head coach Samuel Ocholla expressed disappointment at the loss but vowed to bounce back in Game Two, saying, 'We had a very bad day especially lapses but we learn from that and we are going to adjust and come back stronger tomorrow.'
Meanwhile, Thunder men basketball team eliminated EMYBA's chances of qualifying for the final by winning Game Two 80-71 at Nyayo Gymnasium in Nairobi.
