Kisumu rally to stay afloat: Lakeside lose first game but recover to lift men’s Division One title

Lakeside Verses Zetech Denis Wafula of Lakeside (L in Green) try's a move against Zetech's Liban Hussein during a Division One Basketball League encounter that was staged at Kisumu's Kenyatta Sports Ground on 1-7-2017 [Phillip Orwa, Standard]
 

And in the Kusa games, Zetech has maintained their winning ways.

Kisumu Lakeside beat World Hope 3-1 to win the 2017 Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) men’s Division One League at the weekend.

Lakeside started the play-offs on a losing note, falling 32-56 to hosts Upper Hill in Game One. They bounced back to win Game Two 70-56 and level scores 1-1 at the same venue.

Buoyed by their home-ground advantage, Lakeside won Game Three (68-50) and Four (78-50) at Kisumu Sports Grounds to be crowned champions. The victory earned the Kisumu team a ticket back to the premier league after a five-year hiatus.

“This is impressive. It was our goal to win the league at the start of the 2017 season. The players have sacrificed a lot. The technical bench also ensured that this dream did not go up in smoke,” said Lakeside captain Tim Adede.

“We pulled out of the Premier League in 2012 due to lack of funds and it has taken us half a decade to make a comeback. The journey has been long and tiring. Our hope is to do better and win the Premier League next season,” said Adede.

Following their victory on Sunday, Adede said the club’s plan was to sign on two more players and beef up the squad ahead of next season.

“We will retain all players who helped us gain promotion to the Premier League. We will consider our former players, Collins Otieno and Joshua Charles, for the positions we are eager to fill due to their vast experience in the league,” said Adede, who has been with the team since 2012.

He was forced to play the triple role of coach, player and captain in the 2014-2016 seasons as the team struggled to stay afloat.

“We survived on a thin budget and this explains our long stay in the lower tier. We had no money to cater for our away expenses, which saw us award other teams walk-overs,” he said.

Otieno is a former Kenya Ports Authority power forward while Charles played for the defunct Posta.

The club’s fortunes changed last year, when Adede formed a committee headed by club chairman Hamon Omondi. The committee was tasked with looking for sponsors.

Funds raised

“From the funds raised, we were able to comfortably honour all our away matches this season. We also contracted a new coach, George Opanga, whose skills played a great role in our promotion,” the captain said.

Opanga said he took pride in guiding the team back to the league.

He said the team would take a one-week break before resuming training for the 2018 season, which begins next month.

“We are going to work on our mental strength, conditioning and fitness ahead of the league,” Opanga said.

Meanwhile, Zetech University teams continued to soar in the ongoing Kenya Universities Sports Association games at the University of Nairobi over the weekend.

Zetech Titans defeated Africa International University 39-16 in the men’s category, while Zetech Sparks whitewashed Technical University of Kenya 28-6 in the women's category.

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