Nairobi City Thunder remained unbeaten in their second build-up match, trouncing South Sudan (SSD) 101-79 at Nyayo National Stadium Gymnasium.
The team asserted its might as Kenya’s representatives on the road to the upcoming Basketball Africa League (BAL) qualifiers.
Thunders, Kenya’s first professional basketball premier league club, had earlier walloped Allstars Kenya 111- 83 at Nyayo Gymnasium on Saturday, September 21.
They encountered initial resistance from the Nairobi-based South Sudan (SSD) side during the first quarter of the weekend build-up, marked by a 47-49 scoreline. SSD head coach Denga Garang described the build-up as “a good and competitive encounter.”
SSD comprises several Nairobi-based Sudanese players, most of whom study at Kenyan universities, including Africa Nazarene University, United States International University Africa (USIU), Zetech University and the University of Nairobi. Others are high school students.
They ruffled the feathers of the star-studded Thunder during the first and second quarters in front of a packed crowd that filled Nyayo Gymnasium to the rafters.
“The game was truly competitive. At some points in the first, second, and partly third quarters, SSD led, with the two sides registering see-saw score margins of 15-10. At one point, Thunder was ahead of us by 10 points, resulting in a close scoreline of 70-60. We closed in, and they pulled ahead again. However, towards the end of the third set, Thunder broke away and maintained a solid lead into the fourth set,” Garang explained.
