NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 15 – Nairobi City Thunder head coach Brad Ibs was left in awe of his team, after they showed stellar character to wade off a resilient Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), beating them 83-71 at the Nyayo National Stadium Gymnasium to keep their unbeaten run alive.
KPA had a fast start off the blocks and seemed prime for an upset, but Thunder defended homecourt with grit to rake in their fourth win of the season.
Coach Ibs was full of praise for the players for the character they showed. “It was really great character to win. We had our Thunder night the previous night and most of these guys raked in high 20s low 30s minutes and to come here and show this kind of a game is really pleasing,” Ibs said.
Thunder played the game less than 24 hours after their first of two build up matches heading to the Basketball Africa League. On Thursday, they had ‘Thunder Night’ where they split the team into two, playing a highly competitive match.
Ibs said this was specifically planned to help the team build resilience and endurance, ahead of what is expected at the Kalahari Conference in Pretoria, South Africa, at the end of the month.
“It is pretty much the same situation we will find ourselves in, getting two play high level matches in consecutive days and we had to ensure we build that from now on. The guys really reacted well and I am glad we could come off with a win. However, there are some loose ends that we still need to tie,” Ibs noted.
Derrick Ogechi had a stunning outing for the Thunder with 19 points on the board, with nine of those coming off the three-point arch, with a 3/3 accuracy.
Four other players amassing double digits. Garang Ding and Nuradin Aden both had 14, captain Tyler Ongwae had 13 while Okall Koranga had 12.
Sam Kisilu was KPA’s chief destroyer with a game high 23 points, but they couldn’t match up to the Thunder class.
The dockers had a good start to the game going on a 6-0 run in the first quarter, with Lennox Wanje running the floor well for them. Thunder had a shaky start, Garang losing two of two from the freethrow line early on, while they also struggled on the offensive rim.
They led 21-18 at the end of the opening quarter, with the full-house court thundering in applause at the level of basketball played.
In the second quarter though, it all began to shape up for Thunder. Koranga, a former KPA player himself, came in with steam bellowing from his palms to help the defending champions stabilize to gain a seven point lead at halftime, scores standing at 44-37.
In the third quarter, Thunder kept their feet on the gas, Aden showing class with his shooting abilities. He brought the house down when he went over for a dunk after a well calculated turnover, the home side gaining confidence more.
Ogechi was also a master of his craft and despite sitting on possible foul trouble at the start of the fourth quarter with four, kept his cool to avoid an early end to his night.
Overall, the holders were the better side, as they dominated the duel. They won 18 points from turnovers, their aggressive nature and quick movement being key and had 42 oints from the paint, converting 21 of the 38 opportunities they created.
Thunder will next face off with University of Nairobi’s Terror on Sunday night.
