Basketball: Equity Hawks claw KPA in league tie

Samba Mjomba of Equity Bank and Selina Okumu (left) of KPA during KBF League Match on Saturday at Nyayo National Stadium, Gymnasium, July 13, 2019. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Equity Bank Hawks yesterday exerted revenge on bitter rivals Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) in a Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) women’s premier league match at Nyayo Gymnasium.

It was payback time as the bankers returned the favour to the dockers who beat them 62-60 in a first leg encounter at Makande Hall, Mombasa. They were forced to labour into the extra period after tying at 65 points in the four quarters.

The match was highly contested from the onset but Equity managed half basket lead at the first quarter break. The bankers led by Betty Kananu, Annerose Mandela, Belinda Akoth and Melissa Akinyi fought in the second quarter to see their side take a 34-27 advantage at the breather.

On resumption, KPA’s trio of Felmas Adhiambo, Selina Okumu and Vilma Achieng scored 37 against Equity’s 31 in the third and fourth quarters for a 65 ups score setting the stage for the decisive extra period. Equity dominated to seal a 79-70 victory.

In another women’s tie, Storms bounced back from last weekend’s loss to Kenyatta University (KU) Oryx last weekend to beat Strathmore University Swords 54-37. Linet Atieno and Steffi Ngabire scored eight and nine points for Storms while Neema Achieng led Swords with 16.

Swords crumbled in the second and third quarters despite staging a good show in the first and fourth periods.