This archive report was first published on 8 December 2019.
On Saturday, December 7, 2019, at Nyayo Gymnasium in Nairobi, Ulinzi Warriors and Thunder men's basketball teams secured their spots in the Kenya Basketball Federation league final playoffs.
Ulinzi Warriors edged out holders Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) 77-70, while Thunder booked their place after defeating EMYBA 74-72.
Ulinzi Warriors had previously won Game Three 85-74 on Friday, December 6, 2019, a week after they had won Game One 82-69 and lost Game Two 92-69.
Kenya Ports Authority's dominance came to an end after winning the title for three successive years (2016, 2017, and 2018).
Ulinzi Warriors dominated three quarters, with Kenya Ports Authority winning just one quarter.
Ulinzi Warriors began strongly, winning the first quarter 27-19 and adding another narrow win of 20-19 in the second quarter to head to halftime leading 47-38 against the visitors.
After the break, Kenya Ports Authority seemed to have listened to their technical bench's advice, charging strongly to claim a 16-11 victory in the third quarter, but their efforts came to naught in the fourth quarter where they were hammered 19-16.
Eric Mutoro continued with his individual brilliance, scoring 28 points for Ulinzi Warriors, while captain John Washika scored 15 points. Job Byron and Ken Wachira scored 25 and 13 points respectively for Kenya Ports Authority.
Despite the win, Ulinzi Warriors' captain John Washika said they are still going to make changes and improvements for the final.
“We are going back to the drawing board once more to make some few adjustments on our defence and fall back,” Washika said.
Meanwhile, Thunder qualified for the final for the first time under head coach Sadat Gaya. It's also the first time they'll be playing in the final since 2000 when they bagged the crown.
Thunder had won Game Three 77-68 on Friday, December 6, 2019, a week after they had won Game Two 80-71 but fell 83-80 in Game One.
Their head coach attributed the win to team work.
“I thank my fellow technical bench and players who made me look good and carried me when it mattered a lot,” he said.
Ulinzi Warriors and Thunder will be facing each other in a five-match series final from Tuesday at the Nyayo Gymnasium in Nairobi.
Kenya Ports Authority will on the other hand be travelling for the Basketball Africa League (B.A.L) second round of qualifiers which will be staged in Rwanda from December 16, 2019.
