Basketball: Eugene Adera powers KPA men to successful title defense

Curtains came down on the 2022/23 season of the Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) Premier League action with Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) delivering yet another double in the top tier league.

Coach Antony Ojukwu had already bagged one title, the women’s league in an unbeaten run and the dockers needed the men’s side to step up and finish the job this weekend against Equity Dumas in Mombasa.

Leading the best-of-five series, 2-1 after Saturday’s 68-44-win, coach Sammy Kiki who had taken over the team in Game Three (Ojukwu had been in charge since the playoff quarters started) had to marshal his charges to deny the bankers a chance for a comeback in a decider Game Five.

KPA defend women's basketball title after Sparks sweep

This season’s most valuable acquisition for coach Kiki, Eugene Adera gave a man-of-the-match performance in Sunday’s match sinking 23 points six rebounds and three assists to aid the dockers get a 68-56 win, closing out the series 3-1.

“I am very impressed with how everyone showed for this match. It was a difficult game seeing as Dumas were looking to survive. We had a shaky start, going 181-14 ahead but allowed them to go ahead before the break with a 10-20 quarter.

The players responded well in the third quarter, keeping their head up even as we chased the game and only trailed by three points going into the final stanza.

We remained calm and were able to reclaim the lead and play a massive ten minutes for a comfortable win that gives us back-to-back titles,” offered coach Kiki.

The tactician was full of praise for Adera saying that he lived up to expectations and delivered on his word when he was recruited. Martin Kitong’o bagged a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds while Job Byron added 12 to the tally.

Faheem Juma shot 17 for the Carey Odhiambo-led bankers with James Mwangi the only other player to hit double digits with ten for the runners up.

“When we lost Ken Wachira, who was an integral part of the team, I knew we need a replacement soonest and Adera has been that and more. I had confidence in him from the get go and I had no doubt he would deliver,” Kiki revealed.

This is the ninth title for Kiki’s men, the first titles dating back to when the tactician was marshaling the floor for the Mombasa-based team back in 1990,91 and 92. The side experienced a long drought as teams like Posta and Co-Operative Bank dominated before winning their fourth in 2014.

They missed out on the title in 2015 but bounced right back to win three consecutively in 2016,17 and 18. They lost the 2019 title to Ulinzi Warriors but regrouped for the last two (2021, 2022) championships.

With the victory, KPA get their third opportunity to represent the country at the fourth edition of the prestigious Basketball Africa League (BAL).