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Nairobi City Thunder combo guard Garang Diing powered the Blacklist basketball team to a hard-fought 19-16 victory over UB during the Betika Bingwafest North Rift 3×3 basketball final held at Eldoret Sports Club.

The closely contested match played on the outskirts of Eldoret City, captivated scores of bas[1]ketball enthusiasts as Blacklist emerged triumphant, claiming a cash prize of Sh500,000, a trophy and gold medals.

Diing, instrumental in the victory, teamed up with fellow Thunder guard Eugene Adera to lead Blacklist to glory. The duo, both natives of Eldoret City, honed their basketball skills in their youth and proved unstoppable in the tournament.

Their performance was particularly decisive against defending champions Basketbros, who were eliminated at the quarterfinal stage. Speaking after the win, Diing reflected on their journey: “The final game was intense, but we managed to pull through against UB, who had beaten us in the pool stages. We focused on our defensive strategies and executed our game plan, which gave us the upper hand.”

In the men’s semis, Blacklist dominated Vortex Kajiado 21-13, while UB edged Expandables 13-9. In the women’s 3×3 category, Hookies defeated Rising Stars 17-12 to clinch the title, having narrowly beaten Sun’s 12-11 in the semis.

The winners in both categories received Sh500,000, a trophy and gold medals, while the runners-up pocketed Sh250,000 and Sh100,000, respectively. The Betika Bingwafest boys’ football final between GFE105 and Langas Stars was disrupted by fan trouble, while Turkana Queens lifted the Under-23 girls’ trophy after defeating Soccer Queens.

Championship director Cynthia Mumbo confirmed that the boys’ final will be replayed on December 27 at a venue yet to be announced.Garang Diing leads Blacklist to victory in Eldoret Betika Bingwafest