Terrorists and Pirates sail to play-offs semis
Strathmore University’s Robert Odhiambo (left) shields the ball from University of Nairobi Terrorists Pharez Adala during their Kenya Basketball Federation Division One League play-offs match at Nyayo Stadium Gymnasium on November 16, 2019. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO |
What you need to know:
Pirates, who had Brian Muchina scoring game-high 21 points and Brayan Ondiek 16, led 33-30 at the breather.
Pirates finished top in the regular season with 39 points to sail into the play-offs.
University of Nairobi's Terrorists and Kenyatta University Pirates qualified for the men's Division One League play-offs semi-final after they knocked out their opponents 2-1 in the quarter-finals in Nairobi on Friday night.
Terrorists and Pirates, who have featured in the top league before, sounded a warning of their return to the men's Premier League next year by winning their decisive Game Three matches.
Terrorists will meet Zetech Titans in the best-of-five series semi-final. Pirates will battle it out with Africa Nazarene University in the second semi-final.
Terrorists needed overtime to eliminate Strathmore University with a hard-fought 83-76 victory in Game Three. Both teams were locked at 71-71 in regular time, prompting the overtime that produced the winner.
Strathmore will have themselves to blame after throwing away a huge 44-26 lead at the breather. Terrorists stepped up their game in the fourth quarter, battling from down to lead 30-15. Strathmore failed to recover, going down 5-12 in the overtime to say goodbye to the play-offs.
Terrorists had won Game One 59-39 but Strathmore University recovered to win Game Two 66-59 to lock the series 1-1. Pharez Adalla and Shem Mwalo each sunk 20 points for the winners.
The losers replied with 14 points each through Reuben Kere and Elisha Odhiambo, respectively. Terrorists were seeded second in the regular season on 38 points to advance to the play-offs.
On the other hand, Pirates went down 52-55 against rivals KDF Morans in the opener. Pirates put up a spirited fight to tie series 1-1 with a 60-56 win in Game Two.
In the determining Game Three, Pirates overpowered Morans 65-62 to win the series 2-1.
Pirates, who had Brian Muchina scoring game-high 21 points and Brayan Ondiek 16, led 33-30 at the breather. Pirates finished top in the regular season with 39 points to sail into the play-offs.
FIXTURES
Sunday
At Nyayo Stadium
Coastal Kings v JKUAT (8:30am)
ANU v Kenyatta University Pirates (11:30am)
KPA v Eagle Wings (3pm)
KPA Makande Gymnasium
Riara University v Baobab Blazers (11am)
Lady Bucks v KPA Youth (11am)
