Resilient Morans grab first AfroBasket win in 28 years

A strong and emphatic performance from the men's national basketball team in their final Group C match saw Kenya Morans edge Mali 72-66 in a nervy and closely fought contest at the Kigali Arena on Sunday afternoon as Kenya secured a quarter final qualification match with their first win in the group stages of the 2021 AfroBasket tournament.

Heading into the final game, Kenya had to win if they were to continue their stay at the continental tournament as they had lost both of their first two games against Ivory Coast and Nigeria.

And so the occasion was set after the Kenyan national anthem reverberated the entire Kigali Arena, beads of sweat trickling down Tylor Okari Ongwae and fellow compatriots who were all expected to put in a mighty shift in the must win encounter in order to progress to the last eight qualification round where they would face the winner between South Sudan and Uganda.

“This is our game,” were the words of head coach Liz Mills just before the Kenyan boys stepped onto the court.

But as has been our Achilles heel, Morans started the game poorly, Mali racing to a 5-0 lead within the first minute. In search of their first win since 1993, Joseph Khaemba got the first points for Kenya as he knocked down Kenya's first three pointer. Morans then went on to equalize the game at 8-8 three minutes into the match.

Kenya took a first time lead after five minutes when Ongwae scored another three pointer to give Morans a 16-13 lead that they never looked back on, the closely fought first quarter ending 22-18 in Kenya's favour.

Moran’s charging intensity dropped in the second quarter as Mali put up a spirited fight in trying to hang within touching distance if not threatening to assume control of the game. Still, Kenya, determined to seal a quarter final qualification spot dug in deep as Ongwae continued showing flashes of his brilliance as momentum swung back in Morans' favour. A couple of sloppy turnovers however gifted Mali a way back in as Kenya narrowly led 33-29 by the half time break

“How you start this game, determines this match,” were the words of an encouraging Mills again at the start of the third quarter.

In a show of grasping the coach’s every word to the letter, Morans came out charging for the third quarter, prolonged and relentless attack ensuring Kenya opened a ten point gap for the first time in the match as the boys imposed themselves over the western African nation.

At a time when the call to share responsibility was needed, it was captain Griffin Ligare who steeped up for the occasion, knocking three points after three points to maintain Kenya’s ten point lead by the end of the third quarter as Morans led 55-45.

In the fourth quarter, Morans further asserted their dominance in the match as they opened up a fifteen point lead with only two minutes left on the clock. However, the team's naivety on the big stage showed as they allowed Mali to cut down their lead to only six points when all they needed to do with the heaping pressure was to run down the clock by holding onto the ball a bit longer.

In the end though, they got the job done as they held for a 72-66 win. A first win in the tournament that guaranteed them a third place finish in Group C and a quarterfinal qualification match.