Basketball in Africa

Story by CAXTON APOLLO

Six make-or-break Game Two matches of the 2007 men and women’s basketball play-offs semi-finals will be held in Nairobi and Mombasa on Saturday starting at 10am.

All the winners of last weekend’s Game One matches of the best-of-three series, Kenya Commercial Bank Lions,

Co-op Bank, Telkom, Flames of the USIU-A, Kenya Ports Authority men and women’s teams, will be seeking for a tight 2-0 sweep to qualify for the 2007 finals.

At the Nairobi’s Nyayo Stadium, former four-time champions in a row, Co-op Bank have a tight tie against Terrorists of the University of Nairobi, KCB Lions, who are regular campaigners since 1999, will take on Tigers of the USIU-A in the two men’s top

Premier League fixtures. Co-op Bank struggled to beat Terrorists 69-67 while KCB Lions ambushed the unprepared Tigers 74-55 in their opening matches.

In the women’s crucial Game Two matches, Flames meet Sprite Storms in Nairobi while KPA will host Eagle Wings at their Mombasa KPA Makande gymnasium. At the same venue, KPA men’s team will also host Juja-based Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. The dockwomen, fought from behind to upset Eagle

Wings 47-41 in a low scoring Game One tie in Nairobi while KPA men’s side also trailed 39-38 at half-time before edging out unlucky JKUAT 73-70.

In another men’s Division One return leg match, Telkom start as favourites against Mennonites, after having won the opener 87-76. Sprite Storms went down 62-51 against Flames and pressure will be on them to avoid an early elimination on a 2-0 run.

It is predicated that the losers will return with a strategy to tie the best-of-three series 1-1 and force the decisive Game Three matches on Sunday. Co-op Bank, who crushed 2-0 to Ulinzi Warriors last year, will need Lewi Muya and Wyclife Ochieng’s shooting magic against the no nonesense Genga brothers Eugene and Rodney of Terrorists.

Lions, on the other hand, might have an easy job without Tigers’ dangerman Dan Okwiri whose absence last weekend weakened the students fighting power. KPA men and women’s teams have been favoured by the draws to play two critical matches before their home fans.