Thunder rumble towards KBF League play-offs

Thunder enhanced their chances of qualifying for the Kenya Basketball Federation men’s Premier League play-offs semi-final after picking two hard-fought second leg points from Blades at Nyayo National Stadium Gymnasium at the weekend.

Thunder, who had lost 77-56 to Blades in the first leg, avenged the defeat 67-58 on Saturday.

Thunder had squeezed a narrow 30-28 half-time lead before the two battling giants tied the scores 39-39 and 43-43 in a tight third quarter.

Towering Aleu Dhol, who was ejected and Shem Otieno, were behind Thunder’s good run in the last quarter in which Blades had to pay a heavy prize for their turnovers.

Thunder moved to the third position on the table standings with 32 points. They have won 13 matches and lost three.

Co-op Bank, clobbered Blades 53-48 on Sunday to keep their first position in the table standings with 36 points from 17 wins and three loses.

Champions Ulinzi Warriors, who are away in Dar es Salaam representing Kenya in the Fiba Africa Zone Five Club Championship qualifiers, are second on the standings with 33 points.

Ulinzi have so far won 16 matches and lost two.

The top two teams in each category will automatically qualify for the best-of-five series play-offs semi-finals while six other teams will have to battle it out in the best-of-three series quarter-finals for the two remaining semi-final slots.

After losing two consecutive matches coach Tonny Ochieng’s Blades are still well placed in fourth position with 32 points.

Blades have so far won 12 matches and lost eight.

In the women’s Premier League, Equity Bank had superstar Hilda Indasi scoring 19 points as they demolished struggling Kenyatta University Oryx 66-27. Oryx, who had earlier narrowly lost 44-43 to fast fading Storms on Saturday, played with no purpose, trailing 26-17 at the breather.

Co-op Bank registered a 20-0 walk-over after their opponents Masaku Sparks failed to show up without a reason.

Another women’s Premier League match. International Fiba referee Eric Omondi and Thomas Mutuku awarded Co-op Bank victory according to the competition rules.

In another women’s Premier League match, Gernet Omondi scored 13 points to help Kenya College of Accountancy-University rock newcomers Daystar University.

Lakeside returned to Kisumu empty handed after losing all their two away matches in Nairobi. On Saturday, Lakeside were beaten 53-36 by hosts Kenya Airports Authority and failed to rediscover their winning touch when Terrorists routed them 66-46 on Sunday.

Zetech University continued with their winning trek beating Africa Nazarene University 55-39, thanks to Benjamin Onea, who scored 17 points as the winners led 34-16 at the breather.

Emyba continued to register impressive results in their men’s Division Two league when they demolished Don Bosco 60-52 while Blazers escaped with a narrow 51-50 win over new comers USIU-A in a hotly contested tie.

Pirates garnered two crucial second leg points following their surprise 65-50 victory over Barclays Bank. Riara University clobbered Baraka Xtreme 48-31 after leading 25-19 at the break.

WEEKEND RESULTS

Women: Equity Bank 66 Kenyatta University Oryx 27, Storms 44 Oryx 43, Co-op Bank 20 Masaku Sparks 0, Daystar University 39 KCA-U.

Men: Thunder 67 Blades 58, KAA 53 Lakeside 36, Pirates 65 Barclays Bank 50, Terrorists 66 Lakeside 46, Blazers 50 USIU-A 51, Riara University 48 Baraka Xtreme 31, Emyba 60 Don Bosco 52, Co-op Bank 53 Blades 48.