Ulinzi Warriors march, Zetech beat KAA

[Courtesy]

Former Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) men’s Premier League champions Ulinzi Warriors yesterday ended their first leg matches on a high with a 64-39 win over Lakeside at Nyayo Gymnasium.

Ulinzi, who are seeking to reclaim the title that has eluded them for years made it ten wins out of 11 to remain on course to sealing playoffs slot. Captain John Washika, Erick Mutoro and new signing James Mwangi starred for the soldiers scoring 13, 12 and 11 points respectively. Trevor Gari and Derrick Sila led Lakeside with six points each.

Ulinzi coach William Balozi said he was impressed with his charges sadding that they are using the league to prepare for this year’s Africa Military Games to be hosted in Kenya this August. “We have played well and we are looking forward to the second leg. We have two international assignments this year and we are using the league games to gauge ourselves,” Balozi said.

He added that they are also looking to improve on last year’s third place finish at the military games held in Burundi. In addition, Ulinzi is also preparing for their return to the FIBA Zone five games. They have been in fine form and have only lost one match to rivals Thunder.

Against Lakeside, Ulinzi dominated the first quarter taking it 15-8 before Lakeside led the second for a 14-11 score. The soldiers took a slim 26-22 half-time advantage. On resumption the former holders were more rejuvenated sinking 24 points against Lakeside’s eight before sealing victory with a 14-9 score in the final period. 

It was another bad day in office for Storms as they suffered a narrow 31-32 loss to Kenyatta University (KU) Oryx. This was Storms’ fourth defeat this season.

In the men’s Division One contest, Zetech Titans beat Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) 55-44. Zetech’s Deng Garang was the match’s lead scorer with 19 while his compatriot Jeremy Opiyo scored 14. Nick Odhiambo was superb for KAA scoring 18 points with Alphas Mwema sinking 17.