USIU-Africa and Dumas reign supreme as local basketball league campaign picks momentum
By Barry.Silah, September 14, 2022USIU-Africa had to apply all the tricks in the book to overcome rivals Strathmore University 61-48 in a mouth-watering Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) mens Premier League match at Nyayo National Stadium gymnasium at the weekend.
Despite being a low scoring encounter, it was tightly fought with the fans in attendance yearning for more.
Peter Kajumbe had a game’s high 22 points for USIU but this did not stop Strathmore from racing into a 16-8 lead in the first quarter.
Deng Kuol Deng nailed 14 points for USIU who took control of the proceedings in the second quarter with a 25-10 advantage.
It was evidently a see-saw game with players from both sets of teams sizing each other.
Allan Nyongesa and Jack Waweru shone brightly for Strathmore but the team came short of passing the line.
On the other hand, the defense of USIU was almost impenetrable, mainly frustrating the opponents movement in their territory while making forays upfront whenever an opportunity arose.
In another match, bigwigs Equity Bank Dumas had their experience prevail as they beat Africa Nazarene University WolfPacks 72-66 in what was a thrilling showdown.
During a tactical game, both teams exercised caution especially in committing error but Dumas were adventurous and took risks with a lot of forward play in their game.
James Mwangi scored 14 points for the bankers with Pascal Aiden and Shem Omija accounting for 12 points apiece. Dumas attack was fast and relentless but ANU did well to cope and cover any gaps even though it was not sufficient.
As for the WolfPacks, James Muzial and Rodney Omondi did the donkey work with their mild chase showing good signs especially in the third and fourth quarter which saw their team lead 20-15 and 26-12 respectively.
In the Ladies Division, Storms beat Strathmore 44-38 in yet another low scoring encounter. Lavender Miewe was the top scorer for Storms with 14 points with Liz Abayo managing 10 points. Storms only attracted 10 fouls in the entire match in which they had to come from behind on two occasions.
Strathmore took the lead in the second quarter (12-08) and had Sheryl Wanda and Joy Mupalia to thank for the advantage.