Mabonga steers Warriors to final round of BAL qualifiers

Kenya Navy's Byron Mabonga knows how to swim in deep waters to save situations dire and when Ulinzi Warriors' ship seemed to be sinking in a Basketball Africa League (BAL) first round qualification must-win match, he stepped in and did just that. 

'Skywalker', as he is nicknamed by his peers was on the floor for 30 minutes as the Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) men's league champions who are also Kenya's representatives in the 'Road to BAL' campaign took on a resilient South Sudanese side, Cobra Sport in group D of the first round of qualification in Dar es Salaam on Sunday 31 October. 

His mid-range jumper helped Warriors claw themselves out of a seemingly impossible position against tough opposition to cut back a ten-point deficit and win the match 53-47 and book their ticket to the elite 16.

Mabonga did not just top-score for Warriors, he was the only player in the William Balozi-coached side to hit double digits in points and the top scorer in the match, with Cobra's David Deng coming close at 14 points, with the only other double digit of the match. 

"After a tough loss yesterday (Saturday 30 October) against Burundi's New Star, we went back to the drawing board, corrected our mistakes and we came all guns blazing ready for war. They did not make it easy for us but we kept fighting to the last whistle.  

I have been working on my mid-range jumper for a while now and it paid off today. My teammates did a good job of finding me on the open looks and this win was a team effort," said Mabonga after the match. 

As the two sides headed into the encounter, it was expected that the match would live up to the expectations of a fight between a wounded Warrior and a Cobra fighting for survival and it did not disappoint.

Warriors were in trouble early in the match, scoring only one basket in the first five minutes of the match, an Eric Mutoro layup while allowing Cobra to go on a eight-point scoring spree. 

The first quarter of the match ended in an unbelievable score line as Warriors trailed the South Sudanese side 11-5, Mobanga having bagged the second basket with William Ochieng converting one from the free throw line. 

The second quarter saw Warriors score 12, allowing the opponent to score 16 to head to the breather with a ten-point advantage. 

Upon resumption, Warriors went to work and managed to level the score at 31 points with four minutes to play and assumed lead for the first time at 31-32. Cobra, however, kept pushing and were leading 36-35 going to the final period. 

Mabonga in past league action

Mabonga, Bosire, Tiberious Menya, David Ouma and James Mwangi were on the floor as the whistle went to indicate the start of the final quarter. Two minutes into the quarter, Mwangi had scored twice on the paint to tie the score on 39 points.

Warriors took the lead at 41-39 from a Mabonga jumper while a fast break by Bosire and Mwangi gave Warriors a four-point lead with 6.28 minutes to play. 

Cobra bagged a trey to come within half a basket of leveling the score but Mabonga gave the military side a three-point advantage from the free throw line. He extended the lead to seven points from his signature mid-range jumper for a 49-42 lead and a layup for 51-44.

The quintet that had kept a solid defence against an obviously rattled Cobra as well as clinical rebounding the entire fourth period denied the opposition numerous scoring chances, in the final two minutes of the match with Menya drilling the final nail in Cobra's casket with a layup for the win. 

Focus for Balozi's men now shifts to the final round of qualification where tough tests await.