Oluoch confident of ANU's comeback in fight for KBF division one title

Africa Nazarene University (ANU) find themselves trailing a highly talented Zetech University Titans in the best-of-five final series after one match.

However, coach Mike Oluoch maintains that it is still early days and his side will bounce back in Game Two of the Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) men's division one playoff and tie the series. 

Zetech get one over ANU in closely fought KBF div one series

In Game One played on Saturday, Oluoch's men started off strong leading in the first quarter but a poor two quarters made their last quarter efforts for a comeback count for nothing as they went down 73-76 to the Job Munene-coached Titans. 

"We need to work on our mistakes o Ln the floor. There is no time to do that in training ahead of the second game but we have had a lengthy talk with the players and expect a better show on Sunday. 

This is a series and anything is possible. We just have to remain calm and composed on the court, reduce on our turnovers and be clinical in our defense to deny them the easy baskets," said Oluoch ahead of the match.

On their part, Titans are out to make it 2-0 in the best-of-five series with coach Munene urging his charges not to celebrate yet as there is more work to be done. 

"It is always 50/50 when we face ANU so while we are happy for the win in the first match, we remain focused in leading by two matches as that will give the players the confidence to go all the way and fight for the championship," said coach Munene. 

Titans were relegated from the top tier league in 2017 and after two seasons in the lower division, they have managed to book themselves a slot in the premier league, adding to the number of varsity teams playing in the top league. 

"The vicious cycle of losing players to other teams, especially when they clear school, is still a big challenge. However, we now have a big pool of youngsters who will remain with the team for a few years as we keep adding more young talent. In the current squad, none has played in the top tier but they are talented and I believe we will hold our own against tough opposition," added Munene.