KIBAHA (Tanzania) – The clash between the champions of Burundi, Urunani, and the Kenyans of Nairobi City Thunder, apparently the strongest in Group D of the Eastern division of the Road to BAL, kept all its promises, the latter losing by just one point with a score of 89 to 88.
In a match that they led for 36.25 minutes, the Thunder lost to Urunani led by Marcus Christopher Crawford.
Taylor Ongwae led the way for the Thunder with 23 points, two rebounds shy of a double-double.
William Sydney Davis II (Will) added 17 points to his tally, with eight rebounds, while Garang Diing had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, along with five assists.
The turning point of the match: Thunder guard Uchenna Iroegbu, who had been excellent for the team, fouled out two minutes into the final quarter, which appeared to slow down the Kenyan champions.
He had distributed seven assists and scored 12 points before his release. Will, who had dictated the pace for the Thunder for three quarters, was also injured and the two absences were evident for the team coached by Bradley Ibs, who suffered offensively.
Hero of the match: Jean-Jacques Boissy and Crawford were the main protagonists, a real thorn in the side of the Thunder, with 28 and 24 points respectively, the latter adding seven assists and four steals for 27 efficiency. Boissy didn’t come far from a double-double.
The numbers don’t lie: With nine lead changes and six ties, little separated the two teams statistically and the game came down to who would take a chance at the basket. This is the only game so far where there wasn’t a clear winner until the buzzer, as the Thunder would have won if their final field goal attempt hadn’t failed. Urunani, however, recorded more points on counterattacks (14 to 5).
Conclusion : Urunani are almost guaranteed to qualify for the Elite 16 after these three wins, while the Kenyan team will look to redeem themselves in the remaining two matches, against GNBC and JKT.
They said: “We had prepared well for Urunani, knowing what they were going to have in store for us. We had a good start and kept the pace until the final whistle. Iroegbu’s exit for a foul and the minor injury from Will earlier slowed us down a bit in attack and we ultimately couldn’t get the win However, we won’t dwell on this defeat, as we need to pull ourselves together and win the remaining two matches to achieve our goal of. qualification.” – Taylor Ongwae.
“That’s what we play for, to put a smile on the fans’ faces with such performances and I couldn’t be happier with this match. We kept pushing and held on until the last minute to win the victory. We hope to finish the job by fighting as hard, because that’s the pleasure of playing.” – Marcus Christopher Crawford.
FIBA
