Basketful of lessons for Umoja despite 'disappointing' EABCC outing

Umoja Basketball were, on paper, favourites for the East African Basketball Championship Cup (EABCC) title, but ended up with bronze after a loss to Ulinzi Warriors in the semis.

The Isaac Munywoki-coached side had beefed up their squad, roping in Nairobi City Thunder's James Mwangi, Ariel Okall, Dismass Mbaka, Griffin Ligare, Faheem Juma, and Ariel Ortega fell 68-64 to the military side, relegating to the third-place.

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Up against league finalists Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), Umoja were the better side in a 90-86 outcome in a match that had 11 lead changes and 10 ties.

The encounter came down to the final moments with the Mombasa-based Dockers missing crucial baskets to lose by four.

KPA had dominated the paint 36-26, while also out rebounding Munywoki's men 53-43 (20-9 on offense) to score 16 against 7 in second chance points, but it was not enough to hand them victory.

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Victor Bosire led the scoring charts for Umoja, dropping 29 points, eight more than Okall, after shooting 8-of-10 from behind the arc, adding six assists Juma added 15 points to the win, Dismass Mbaka posting a double-double on 11 points and 10 rebounds.

"It was a good but disappointing tournament for us, especially with the personnel we had, as we came here targeting gold. We had a bad game in the semis, missed everything especially on free throws and there is no way a team can win a match like that," Bosire admits.

"Bronze is not what we wanted but we had to challenge ourselves to be on the podium. The third-place match is one of the most difficult matches to play in given the fight teams out up in the semis, but I am glad we won it," the skipper adds.

Bosire insists his side had picked valuable organisational lessons that could help them in future competitions.

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"This was a huge learning opportunity, especially for for management. We assembled a squad in a very short time and did not get the chance to train and gel before the championship," Bosire opines.