Ulinzi want tie against Co-op rescheduled

Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) men’s Premier League defending champions Ulinzi Warriors had a successful outing at the recently concluded Africa Regional Military Games in Rwanda, Kigali.

They bagged silver after losing 73-70 to the hosts in the final.

On returning home, the league leaders had their first assignment against second placed Co-op Bank Spartans last weekend.

But the derby did not live up to its billing on grounds of poor lighting at the Nyayo National Stadium Gymnasium, which was the venue of the encounter.

The match had been scheduled for 4.30pm last Sunday but due to congestion in the fixtures, the two sides entered the pitch past 6pm.

Ulinzi head coach William Balozi said the initial agreement with umpires manning the match, Erick Omondi and Pidi Osore, was that they would play the match under floodlights since it was late.

“But this was not to be as the script immediately changed when we entered the pitch, there was no way we would play under very dim lights owing to the fact that the venue is also Co-op Bank’s training ground,” protested Balozi.

Spartans were then subsequently awarded the match and they walked home with a 20-00 walkover against the soldiers.

Balozi says he has since written to KBF requesting it to reschedule the crunch tie to an appropriate date and time.

“We didn’t refuse to play, we could not play in darkness as this is even against Fiba rules, all we are asking for is KBF to reschedule the fixture even if we have to play in the morning, we will play,” said Balozi.

During their first leg encounter at the venue the soldiers edged the bankers 67-65.