Kenya Morans eye revenge ahead of Afrobasket opener against Senegal
Basketball
By
Washington Onyango
| Feb 19, 2021
Kenya Morans will be seeking to avenge their first leg loss against Senegal when they take on the West African giants in their Group ‘B’ of the last round of the 2021 FIBA Afrobasket championship qualifiers on Friday (today) in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Morans take on Senegal for the opening match at 4PM East African Time, a team that defeated them in the first leg of qualifiers that was held in Kigali, Rwanda in November 2020.
Under the leadership of the new head coach Liz Mills, Morans will be aware of the 38 points loss they suffered at the hands of the experienced Senegalese side.
“It will be special not only for me and for the team if we qualify to the continental championships,” Mills said in an interview with the Standard Sports.
Kenya lies third in the group following the first round of qualifiers and can clinch a place in the African finals by matching the results of fourth-placed Mozambique.
The top three teams will qualify for the African finals later this year. Kenya last featured in continental showpiece in 1993.
The team received a major boost with the arrival of four foreign-based players which is a massive boost ahead of Friday’s tip off of the third and final round of the Afrobasket qualifiers.
The quartet of Tylor Okari, Ariel Okal, Joel Awich and Preston Bungei joined the Morans camp in Yaoundé Tuesday.
Kenya Morans head coach Liz Mills named a list of 13 players that will represent Kenya in the second and final round of Afrobasket qualifiers.
She made two other changes to the squad by dropping point guard Victor Bosire and Fahim Juma.
Griffin Ligare will captain the team that includes Erick Mutoro, Joseph Khaemba, Tylor Okari, Preston Bungei and Victor Ochieng among others.
Kenya will next play Angola on Saturday before finishing their qualifier assignments against Mozambique on Sunday.