Mshilla’s Clique Mambas look to deny Moischers in NBA decider weekend

Peninah Nthenya-coached Nairobi Basketball Association (NBA) sides Moischers and Safe Spaces have moved to within one game of being crowned the 2022 NBA champions in the men’s and women’s leagues respectively.

Moischers, on the weekend took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five final series against Rose Mshilla-led Clique Mambas, following a 69-52 victory.

The win leaves Nthenya’s charges a match away from finishing the season unbeaten right from the regular league through to the round of 16 and into the quarters, semis and now the final.

However, Mshilla maintains that the series is not yet over and they have a chance to make a comeback as action continues on the weekend and push the series to a deciding Game Five.

“We will make the adjustments before Game Three. We had a better game defensively in Game Two compared to the first match as we managed to contain Moischers’ top scorers but our shots were not dropping. Scoring was a challenge and is the nature of this game, the team that scores more wins it so we have to find a way to get the baskets in.

I still believe we have the chance to push this to a Game Five if we play it right. We will try to make our offense more fluid in the next matches because we struggled in this aspect. We will work on the best way to get the touches to the guys that give us the baskets. This is not over yet,” offered a confident Mshilla.

Roger Aila got Mambas off to a 4-0 start in Game Two but Moischers tied it 4-4, 6-6 before a Jeff Onyango trey saw them off to a 9-6 edge as they managed to hang on for 13-12 in the first stanza.

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Mambas trailed 20-10 in the second and 14-7 as the third ended. It was a close final quarter that ended 24-23 in favour of the winning side. Onyango managed 29 points despite close marking by Aila. Mambas were led by Alex Nzuki who recorded 17 as Aila sunk 10 including his team’s 8 points of their 12 first quarter points.

Meanwhile, the women’s series will see Safe Spaces look to lift the title on Saturday having won Game Three 45-37 to go 2-1 up. Coach cum player, Nthenya believes her charges will have an even tougher assignment as Stanbic Bank in their quest.

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“We still have work to do, we cannot rest on our laurels as Stanbic is a good side. We have to play harder both offensively and defensively to end the series as winners. One could see fatigue play a part in our Game Three scoreline but we hope to come back strong and end the series on a high,” offered Nthenya.