Nairobi City Thunder strike down MBB to make BAL history

Nairobi City Thunder made history by becoming the first Kenyan basketball side to win a game in the Basketball Africa League (BAL) after beating South Africa’s Made by Ball Basketball (MBB) 85-76 in a closely-contested Nile Conference match-up at BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda on Saturday 24 May.

Coming in with a wretched 0-4 form and carrying the tag of being the only winless side in the conference, all chatter leading up to Saturday afternoon’s game was on how Thunder needed to avenge their gut-wrenching defeat to the southern side over the week, and still prove a point to anyone who had written them off.

Bradley Ibs’ side managed to give the perfect response to all of that, showing remarkable strength and resilience to fend off their stubborn opponents, making history, and instead keeping their BAL playoffs hopes alive.

For the first time since the competition began, Ibs handed the local-based players a decent run-out, and it was quite a decent surprise to see Thunder’s core unit - including Ariel Okal, Eugene Adera, Tyler Ongwae, Garang Diing and Albert Odero - get the nod for the opening tip.

What Ibs got was more fluidity, connection, and pure Thunder basketball (as he would call it), as his side got straight out of the blocks to an 11-2 start.

MBB, winners of the previous head-to-head contest, were not going off without a fight, and effectively took advantage of some missed shots to take a 24-20 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Thunder, for much of the second quarter, dialed in BAL Elevate player Yohane Kabongo to inject some energy on offense, which he did, scoring 11 quick points to turn around his team’s fortunes as they took a 41-39 lead to the break.

Such was the see-saw nature of this contest that MBB, with a quick 8-2 run out of the locker-room, jumped out to a four point lead, and in a quarter that ticked the lead changes to six, looked to be heading to the final period with an advantage.

But up stepped Uchenna Iroegbu, sinking a ridiculous buzzer-beater from range to cancel the two-point deficit.

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That shot, in hindsight, seemed to have given the Kenyan boys a lift, and buoyed by a partisan crowd draped with the national colors, wheeled them to a 30-point quarter that had everything Thunder basketball.

Odero was finding spaces in between defenses, Diing was hammering down alley-oops, Adera scoring in inconceivable ways, and the crowd just loving every second.

A look at the bench showed what everything meant for the team, and even the fouling out of Odero - who led his team’s scoring with 23 points - couldn’t stop what had been coming.

Countless were the times skipper Ongwae had talked about the team learning every day and making improvements, and it was all laid bare for everyone to see.

Thunder dominated 22-7 on assists, cleaned the glass 52 times to MBB's 43, and though Teafale Lenard Jr torched them for 39, it ultimately didn't matter.

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“So delighted to make more history for Kenyan basketball,” Odero said post-game. “We just showed with our local guys what we can do.”

Their quest for a playoff place goes on on Sunday, when they play the hosts APR at 1830 EAT.

Keep your calculators close.