Equity ready to bank Premier League titles

Equity's Hilda Ndegwa (left) and Mary Lisa of Zetech University playing semi final playoffs at The Nyayo national stadium on Friday, Feb 5, 2022. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Equity Bank men and women basketball teams are one victory away from qualifying for the 2021-2022 Kenya Basketball Federation Premier League finals.

Both teams posted dominant performances in their respective semifinal playoffs played over the weekend, at Nyayo Gymnasium.

Led by their captain Victor Ochieng, Equity Dumas maximised on their home court advantage to take a 2-0 lead in the semifinals against Kenya Ports Authority (KPA men). The  two are battling in a best-of-five series format.

On Sunday, Ochieng dropped 29 points, three rebounds and two assists to lead the bankers to a comfortable 78-66 win over the Dockers.

KPA’s ship started to sink on Saturday when they lost 64-54 with Ochieng again being the mastermind of the visitor’s downfall at a fully packed Nyayo Gymnasium.

And after missing out on the semifinals for the past five season, Equity are now one game away from reaching the finals, which gives head coach David Maina the reason to begin dreaming of  championship title.

Speaking to Standard Sports, Maina, who also handles the women’s teams, said he was proud of the boys’ character ahead of the semis and believes they can win their first final.

“I am really proud of the players. Our goal at the start of the season was to get to the finals this year after being knocked out in the quarterfinals for the past five years,” said Maina.

“That ice is finally broken and we are now on a championship journey. KPA is not an easy team considering they have very experienced players who have played in the international level compared to us.”

In the other men’s semis clash, defending champions Ulinzi Warriors hammered Blades 79-69 to also take a 2-0 series lead. The service men had defeated the university side 78-54 on Saturday.

A win in Game Three will take them through to the finals.

In the women’s semifinals, defending champions Equity Hawks and regular season leaders KPA women edged closer to booking a spot in the finals after taking a commanding 2-0 lead in the series in their respective matches.

Kenya Lioness star Mellisa Akinyi had 17 points and five rebounds to guide Hawks to a 66-58 win on Sunday after they had completed a 50-45 comeback win against Zetech Sparks.

KPA, on the other hand thrashedStorms 89-61 and 79-33 respectively.