Basketball: Former champions made to pay after lethargic show

University of Nairobi, Terror's William Maliel, left, charges as he shield the ball from Blade's Karoli Ogola during their National League match at Nyayo National Stadium on Sunday, April 20th. 2015. PHOTO/ JONAH ONYANGO.

Blades shred Co-op Bank as Equity teams bank vital points in weekend matches

Co-op Bank Spartans were stunned 45-44 by Blades in the Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) men’s Premier League at Nyayo Stadium gymnasium on Sunday evening.

Blades opened a 29-17 lead at half time before the bankers narrowed the gap in subsequent quarters.

Blades brushed off their underdogs' status to win the first quarter 16-6. They maintained the tempo in the second, winning 13-11. Things went south for the bankers after resumption as Blades won the third quarter 13-6.

Co-op Bank took control of the fourth quarter to narrow the margin, but it was too little too late despite winning 21-3.

Fidel Okoth was good with 10 points for Blades while Kevin Kigotho banked a similar score for Co-op.

Meanwhile, Equity Bank teams had perfect outing at the weekend, winning their games with convincing margins.

Equity mounted a ruthless attack on Trail Blazers, winning 80-48 after taking a 39-22 half time lead in a men’s Premier League encounter.

Equity were the better side in all four quarters, winning 22-13, 17-9, 25-14, and 16-12. Kevin Chogo had a game high of 26 points for Equity as his teammate Felix Omondi added 20. Trail Blazers had 19 from Alex Onguso.

Just like their men, the Equity women's team was a hard nut to crack against Storms, whom they defeated 65-35. Hild Indasi of Equity led with 13 points. Her teammate Susan Akinyi added 11, while Storms had 11 from Ashley Kings.

Strathmore University defeated University of Nairobi Terror 57-47. George Kisali sunk 14 for Strathmore while Terror got 17 points from Dan Nabuya and 13 from Sam Mwalo.

Eve Chebet sunk 29 points to lead Masaku Sparks to victory against Strathmore University. Masaku Sparks won the low-scoring match 44-36. Strathmore had 10 points from Carol Ouma.

The National Counties Basketball League (NCBL) representative, James Mavisi, hailed the peace basketball contest held at the same venue at the weekend.