Thunder strikes Eldonets twice to reach KBF semis
Griffin Ligare, Kevin Chogo and Faheem Juma played a pivotal role in ensuring Nairobi City Thunder sail through to the semi finals of the ongoing Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) men’s premier league playoffs at the weekend.
The trio scored 29, 21 and 19 points respectively in Game Three of the best-of-three quarter final play-offs against Eldonets to steer the Shauri Moyo-based side to a 97-57 victory and advance to the semis on a 2-1 series win.
Thunder had to come from behind to turn the tables, having lost Game One played away in Eldoret. That was Thunder’s second loss to Eldonets on that court, as they suffered a similar predicament during the second leg of the regular season.
The Sadat Gaya-coached Thunder, who went into the quarters pairing as the favourites after finishing the regular season in second place, showed intend in Game Two as they held a 20 point lead going to the breather, to eventually win the match 82-50.
During the decider, Thunder put the game out of reach for Eldonets in the first quarter scoring 30 points against the latter’s 11. The second quarter ended in a draw at 22 points as the 19 point difference remained constant. Thunder won the remaining quarters 22-13 and 23-11 for the massive 40 points win.
