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Nairobi City Thunder one win away from elite Basketball Africa League
Albert Odero (left) of Nairobi City Thunder charges past Ali Lahrichi of Kriols Stars during a Group ‘A’ match in the East Division qualifiers for Basketball Africa League at Nyayo National Stadium on November 30, 2024.
What you need to know:
- Thunder beat Cape Verdean team Kriol Stars 104-71 to reach the semis of Eastern Division qualifiers.
- The top two teams from the eight-team Eastern Division qualifiers will qualify to play in BAL.
Kenyan champions Nairobi City Thunder needs just one win to qualify for Africa’s premier men’s basketball competition, Basketball Africa League (BAL).
On Friday night, Nairobi City Thunder, coached by Bradley Ibs from USA, capitalised on superb defence to beat Cape Verdean team Kriol Stars 104-71 to reach the semi-finals of Eastern Division qualifiers of Basketball Africa League.
Nairobi City Stars now need to Malawian team Brave Hearts in their final Group ‘A’ match on Sunday night from 8pm to reach the final, becoming the first Kenyan team to qualify for elite BAL tournament.
Previous attempts by Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and Ulinzi Warriors ended in the Elite 16 phase. The top two teams from the eight-team Eastern Division qualifiers will qualify to play in BAL.
Mgendi, who is a member of the team’s technical bench attributed the good run to depth in squad, astute defence, and good player rotation.
“We knew that our opponents were good shooters and so we employed a tight defence to contain them, and it worked. They were restricted to passing the ball around, to our advantage,” said Mgendi, who won the Kenyan league title with the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Stars in 2000.
"We had a deep technical bench of 12 players as compared to Cape Verde team of six. Effective player rotation also yielded the deserved victory.”
Friday night’s win was the secondon the trot for Nairobi City Thunder, who beat South African team ‘Made by Ball Blue Soldiers’ 105-59 on Thursday night in their first Group ‘A’ match of the qualifiers, dubbed “Africa Champions Clubs Road to BAL Elite 16 Division East Qualifiers’.
The preliminary matches have been taking place at Nyayo National Stadium Gymnasium, but the semi-final matches will be played at the Moi International Sports Centre Gymnasium at Kasarani in Nairobi.
Nairobi City Thunder now lead the four-team Group ‘A’ on four points. Cape Verde’s Kriol Stars, coached by Portuguese tactician Hugo Mguel Do Silvia, are second on three points, having won one match and lost one.
South African team ‘Made By Ball Blue Soldiers (MBB) are third on three points, followed by Bravehearts of Malawi who are bottom of the group on two points, having lost all their matches.
In other Group ‘A’ matches played earlier, Cape Verde’s Kriol Stars beat Bravehearts of Malawi 89-58 in their opener.
Nairobi City Thunder were previously known as NSSF Stars before changing names to International Christian Centre (ICC).
Saturday was rest day, and the action resumes today with four matches at Kasarani Indoor Gymnasium at Kasarani from 12.30pm.