Iroegbu rallies Nairobi City Thunder as chase for first BAL win continues

Nigerian international Uchenna Iroegbu put up a fight, emerging as Nairobi City Thunder's top scorer with 18 in the side's second Basketball Africa League (BAL) loss in as many matches. 

The Bradley Ibs-coached side fell to fellow debutants Al Ahly Tripoli 115-87 in day two of the BAL Nile Conference in Kigali, Rwanda, the North Africans breaking the highest-scoring game record in BAL history, previously held by US Monastir since beating GNBC of Madagascar 113-66 on May 17, 2021.

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Thunder were coming off another blowout loss against hosts APR in a 92-63 outcome, a match that had key tormentor Aliou Diarra put on a brilliant show on Saturday, the 2023 BAL Defensive Player of the Year leading all players in scoring with 21 points, also setting a season record for most blocked shots, with six.  

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As they head to the final match, before the rematches, against South Africa's MBB, a side they faced in the Elite 16, East Division at Kasarani, but one that had made considerable changes to their squad, a lot is a stake.

“It’s not how we bounce back; it’s a must. We must bounce back. Luckily, being down by that many points doesn’t carry over to the next game. The next game starts 0–0. We have to bring a new mindset and energy to the next game," Iroegbu told BAL.com. 

Asked what the main area of concern has been in the two matches, he explained: "Defense was one of the key points of discussion going into the game. We knew they were good in transition; they did it in the last game, and we had put more emphasis on limiting that, but they were still able to get many points. 

We had a better second half, got some stops and points. We were able to push the ball like we wanted to and got easy shots. When we play like that, we are a good team, but when we are not, it makes things difficult." 

A 28-15 third quarter show for Fouad Abou Chacra's men put a stop to any hopes for a comeback for the first Kenyan side to qualify for BAL, as the two sides went on to keep things level in the final quarter at 34 points. 

Tripoli kept their turnovers to 11, against Thunder's 18, exploiting the latter's tally for 28 points as the East Africans managed nine. The fast break numbers went to Tripoli 23-13, second chance points 21-7 and steals 12-3 to dominate the match up. 

So good were Tripoli in this match-up that they not only broke the scoring record but also tied Petro de Luanda’s BAL record for most three-pointers in a game (20), moving a step closer to the BAL postseason.

Jean Jacques Boissy, who opened the campaign against MBB of South Africa with 28 points, became the first player to score 30 points in a single game this season. Jaylen Adams added 26 while Mohamed Sadi scored 20, and Côte d'Ivoire international Deon Thompson contributed 21 points and 14 rebounds for the North Africans. 

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