NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 20 – Twelve seconds left on the clock, a slim half a basket lead, a tense court and a bench clutching on the edge of their seats; then happened Albert ‘Kenyan Airways’ Odero.
Nairobi City Thunder were leading Johannesburg Giants 84-83, the South Africans having raced from an 11-point deficit, before Eugene Aderra’s quick hands drew a foul for a line ball. He picked, fed off Odero, with the shooting guard making a superb spin below the rim before bringing the house down with a powerful dank, eating off four seconds on the clock and taking the scores to 86-83.
With a roaring Kasarani Gymnasium, Thunder coach Brad Ibs called a time-out, as the Kenyan champions drew a strategy to manage the remaining eight seconds of the game.
Back to the court, Thunder played defense like their lives depended on it and despite a double attempt at drawing level from the three-point line, both shots from the Jo’burg boys came off the rim and blaring went the buzzer.
“When they fouled and Eugene gave me the ball, I wanted to hold and then draw a foul. I thought they were going to foul me. When I did the spin, I didn’t expect the basket to be that wide open so I just went for it. Just instincts,” Odero told Capital Sports.
Coming in to the game, both sides had already confirmed their place in the semi-final, but the duel was on who would finish top of the group. Ibs admitted much, that he was a relieved man to win and finish top.
“Obviously you would want to finish top of your group to meet the number two from the other side. If we are talking honestly nobody wants to play Dar City with a trip to BAL on Sunday, would be happy to see them on Sunday though,” said coach Ibs after the game.
His opposite number Florsheim Ngwenya was modest in defeat, and said his side waqs outrebounded and that is what changed the game.
“I think offensive rebounds was where the game was decided today. Wed were not at our best picking the balls off the glass and they were good. They also got quite a good number of points on the fast break in the first two quarters. Thunder is a really good team, well coaches and I am glad we played a good game today, one that everyone enjoyed,” the coach offered.
The Kasarani gym was buzzing, with a huge crowd coming in to pour their noise and support Thunder. Captain Liam Mark Reid admitted that this made a bit of a difference.
“We love to play in this kind of atmosphere and definitely when it’s the home team, you expect them to feed off the noise and the push. All the time when they were making three’s dunks, the crowd was on their feet and you could see that they were getting a bit of energy from that,” the skipper noted.
It was an end to end affair, with both sides bringing their best on the court. Odero was Thunder’s best player on the floor with 21 points and four rebounds while Adera chalked a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Skipper Tyler Ongwae also had a superb outing, clinching 18 points and five rebounds while the lanky Lance Thomas also had double digit points, hauling 14.
Different from their first game when they were slow off the blocks, Thunder were different this time round, racing to an 8-0 lead with Adera going coast to coast after winning the ball on the rebound to set the pace of the game alive.
Sandile Sibanyoni registered Jo’Burg’s first basket, but skipper Ongwae restored the eight point advantage with a dunk that forced the South Africans to a time-out.
However, Thunder still dominated with Chase Cameron Adams coming in and announcing his presence with a shot from downtown. Ariel Okall came on for back to back dunks that gave Thunder a 24-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Giants started peeling back the gap and a series of turnbovers saw them reduce the gap to six points and with 6:01 to play, Ibs called a time out. They came back with Lance, Adera and Derrick Ogechi suiting up for the floor. Adera’s spin and lay-up took the game to an eight-point comfort and that would grow to nine with a 44-35 lead at halftime.
In the third quarter, Giants went full throttle. Thunder were hit on the turnoevers, and captain Reid;s three-point shot reduced the gap to three points before Ngabo Kasilembo’s jumper shot took the game to 48-47.
Daniel Prinsloo would later hit a three after a Thunder basket tying the game at 50-ups, but their dreams of a first time lead were ended with skipper Ongwae responding in kind from the other end. With 1:12 to play, Thunder were leading 57-54, but under pressure. Ibs called a time out.
On resumption, they ensured a seven-point lead, Okal’s bucket from an offensive rebound taking the scores to 63-56 at the end of Q3.
They started strong in the fourth quarter, establishing an 11-point lead with Ongwae dunking on the Giants from a turnover, prompting the coaches to call a time-out just 45 seconds in.
On resumption, Giants seemed to have corrected. With 1:13 to play, they were inches close to an upset when they squeezed the score to 84-83, off another turnover. Thunder now basically tried to run the clock down, and they successfully did that with Odero’s hammer closing down the contest.
Thunder will now take on Ferroviario de Beira in Saturday’s semi-final, with Giants taking on favourites Dar City in the first duel.
Dar finished top of the group with a 3-0 run after edging out Beira 87-78 in their final group match.
