Sports

How dockers went past Equity Dumas to retain basketball men’s league title

Wednesday, June 7th, 2023 07:13 | By
How dockers went past Equity Dumas to retain basketball men’s league title
KPA players celebrate after being crowned local league winners. PHOTO/Courtesy

Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) resisted an early scare to successfully defend their Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF)-Premier League title as the Men’s Basketball Champions after seeing through a stubborn Equity Dumas 68-56 at a packed Makande Gymnasium Sunday night in Mombasa County.

Sammy Kiki’s men had it in the bag in Game 4 of the Best of Five as they shut out the enterprising Bankers with some sublime basketball being left out in the court. KPA led in all but one of the Quarters (18-14/10-20/15-12/25-10) to prove their mettle. The Dumas proved a hard nut to crack as they formed block defense which interrupted KPA’s usual play pattern of showing freedom.

The game had its fair share of controversy particularly in the third quarter after protestations by the visiting side technical bench following complaints of poor officiating. However play resumed after the standoff that lasted almost 10 minutes. KPA had to dig deep with the Bankers under veteran tactician Carey Odhiambo having a slim lead of 46-43 thus deploying their big men on the ring to run the show.

An overall clinical display both offensively and defensively by KPA,led to a 25-12 in the last quarter with great cheers from the home crowd. Equity simply could not cope and their tactics fell apart with the gritty Dockers always ready for the kill. Eugene Adera emerged the Most Valuable Player after a good season to this end.

Coach Kiki expressed satisfaction after a grueling run; “After a very physical display,my players were tired but we made it through the line. We were obviously the better side and the plan was to finish it all in game four and that has come to pass.” His opposite number Odhiambo on his part praised his charges for a good fight despite lapses in the final quarter. “The first three quarters were good for us and we played well. However, we lost concentration allowing the opponents to come to our yard which was a mistake. Overall this season has been great.”

Meanwhile the sister club KPA Ladies Team also successfully defended their title after seeing off Zetech University in the third game of five.

The two teams have met seven times in the finals in the last seven years. The 68-43 win at Makande Gymnasium to win 3-0 in the series against the University side.

Nigerian import Ifunaya Okoro alongside the trio of Hilda Indasi,Linda Alando and Belinda Aluoch were the series big hitters for the Lady Dockers. The Dockers had defeated Zetech Sparks 68-38 and 70-38 in Game One and Two respectively in Nairobi last weekend.

More on Sports


ADVERTISEMENT