Basketball: KPA, Ulinzi win as Premier League gathers pace

Isiah Kiyaka of Lakeside (left) in action against KPA's Job Byron.[Denish Ochieng,Standard]

Defending champions Ulinzi Warriors and Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) stretched their unbeaten run to three matches in the Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) Premier League after winning their respective matches over the weekend.

Backed by the return of Kenya Morans point-guard Erick Mutoro, Ulinzi registered their fourth win of the campaign after thrashing Kenya College of Accountancy (KCA) University 96-42 and Blades 72-66.

In their first match, James Mwangi and Mutoro led the soldiers to victory against KCA after posting 27 and 21 points respectively while John Washika added 14 in the match played at the Nyayo gymnasium.

Against Blades, Ulinzi rallied from a 14-13 first quarter loss to win 72-66 after clawing their way back into the match by pick the second and third quarters 19-10 and 24-23 respectively.

Another fourth quarter loss of 19-16 could not impact the result as Ulinzi registered their fourth win of the campaign that takes them to eight points in the standings.

At the same venue, Equity Bank held off a fourth quarter charge from University of Nairobi’s Terror to prevail 77-56.

Equity staged a bright start to the game by outscoring Terror 25-12 in the first quarter.

They, however, failed to replicate that form in the second quarter as they settled for a 16-16 stalemate. They led 41-28 at halftime.

Equity then discovered their shooting form in the third quarter edging their opponents 22-11 before losing the fourth 14-19 thanks to a last ditch attempt by the hosts to stage a comeback.

In Kisumu, KPA men’s side got their third straight victory after defeating home team Lakeside 80-65 at Manyatta Primary Arabs School.