Thunder and KPA win semi-finals series to set epic final

Nairobi City Thunder in action against Stanbic Shields on Saturday. [Courtesy Thunder]

Reigning Kenya Basketball Federation Men's Premier League champions Nairobi City Thunder and former holders Kenya Ports Authority will face off in the final battle for the 2026 title.

This is after the two sides won their respective best-of-five series matches to book their final slots.

Flawless Thunder who are looking to successfully defend their title and extend their reign to three years in a row defeated Stanbic Shields 3-0 while the dockers saw off Equity Dumas by the same margin. 

Thunder had no trouble cruising to the final as they thrashed Shields 88-65 to register a clean sweep in game three on Saturday night at Nyayo Gymnasium.

Kenya Morans stars Derrick Ogechi and Tylor Ongwae had a great night out by not only hitting the double digits but also reaching the 20 points mark.

Ogechi led Thunder with 23 points with captain Ongwae adding 20. Eugine Adera and Garang Diing also had a good outing hitting 12 and 11 points respectively. 

Former Thunder star Griffin Ligate who shifted his allegiance to Shields this season led the bankers with 13 points while Lenson Kisia added 11.

A dominant display in the second quarter won the match for Thunder who had started well by winning the first period 27-21. They totally outplayed Shields on both ends of the court to take the second quarter 23-8 and stretch their advantage to 21 points going into the half-time break.

The third and fourth quarters were evenly contested with Thunder only managing to score two points more than Shields in the second half.

The dockers crowned a fruitful trip to Nairobi with a resounding 82-56 win against Equity Dumas in game three to end the series and remain in the race for the title.

Jshin Brownlee anchored KPA to victory with 15 points with Tobias Odhiambo and Trevor Opiyo complementing his effort with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Rodney Sande top-scored for Dumas with 11 points, one more than Jordan Pipkin. 

KPA dominated the duel from the onset taking the first quarter 17-10. Both sides improved in the second even as the dockers controlled the game to score 22 points against Dumas 14 and take a 39-24 half-time lead.

They sealed the win in the third quarter after taking it 32-15. Dumas won the fourth 17-11 but it was a little to too late to save their campaign.