© Courtesy
© Courtesy

Upsets galore as Ulinzi Warriors, Thunder fall

Reading Time: 2min | Sat. 22.01.22. | 19:24

There were no surprises in the women's league as favourites now lead the series 1-0.

The Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) League playoffs threw off on Saturday 22 January with men's league defending champions Ulinzi Warriors the first casualty as they fell 73-61 to eighth placed Kisumu Lakeside. 

Lakeside, who subjected the soldiers to their first regular league loss in Kisumu, dominated the match from the onset, scoring 26 points in the first quarter against Ulinzi's 21. The second quarter went their way scoring 18 against Ulinzi's ten to head to the breather on a 13 point advantage. 

Warriors cut the advantage to nine points at the end of the third quarter but could not go all the way in overturning the trajectory of the match as they scored 14 in the final period against Lakeside's 17 to go down by 12 points. 

In Nairobi, last season's losing finalists Nairobi City Thunder went down 68-39 to varsity side Strathmore Blades in a highly charged match. 

Blades went up 18 points to nine in the first quarter and scored 16 in the second quarter while restricting Thinder to just five. On resumption, the Tony Ochieng-coached varsity side kept the tempo going scoring 15-10 and 19-15 for the win. Coming into the match Blades had lost home and away by four points in the regular league. 

"Nothing worked today. We were totally off as a team both offensively and in defense. Blades came hard at us in the first quarter and we failed to respond, something we will be looking to do in Game Two," said Thunder's skipper Griffin Ligare

In the women's league, there were no surprises as Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) whitewashed Strathmore Swords 67-27 to get their campaign off to a flying start. 

Swords won their match 43-31 against University of Nairobi (UoN) Dynamites, a match the latter's tactician Juma Kent admits his charges' performance was below par. 

In another match, Zetech Sparks lit the otherwise dull Nyayo Indoor Arena with excellent plays as they picked an easy 62-29 win over Eagle Wings.  


tags

Kenya Basketball FederationKenya Basketball Federation Premier LeagueUlinzi WarriorsUlinzi Warriors Basketball TeamNairobi City ThunderKisumu Lakeside

Other News