Warriors fall to Lakeside in playoffs tie as KPA teams win

KPA's Teresia Ekise (left) and Faith Nane of Strathmore University during KBF Premier League at The Nyayo Gymnasium on Saturday Jan 22, 2022. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Lakeside kicked off the 2021-2022 Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) Men’s Premier League quarterfinals playoffs on a winning note after upsetting defending champions Ulinzi Warriors 73-61 during yesterday's game one at Manyatta Arabs, Kisumu.

Lakeside guard Trevor Gari dropped a game high 20 points followed by the influential Sila Awuor who scored 16 points. Allan Kibira added 14 points as the hosts registered their second win against Warriors in Kisumu.

The hosts began the match on the front foot after dominating the two opening quarters 26-21 and 18-10 to lead 47-28 at the break.

The William Balozi-led charges attempted to get back into the game with a 16-12 third quarter performance but Lakeside fought back in the last quarter to seal the win with a 17-14 fourth quarter performance.

William Ochieng topped the visitors' scoring charts with 20 points with Kenya Morans guard Erick Mutoro and Tiberius Menya scoring 15 points and nine points respectively.

Lakeside will now head to Nairobi with a 1-0 advantage in the three-game series quarterfinals.

Elsewhere, Kenya Ports Authority men and women’s basketball teams also started the playoffs on a high note after winning their respective matches.

KPA men thrashed Eldonets 88-66 in Eldoret to take a 1-0 advantage to Mombasa.

In the women’s Premier League playoffs, regular season leaders KPA women saw off Swords 67-27 as they continued with their stellar 2021-2022 season performance.

Other matches saw Zetech Sparks beat Eagle Wings 63-29 and Storms edge University of Nairobi Dynamites 45-31.