NAIROBI, Kenya, May 25, 2025 – Nairobi City Thunder head coach Brad Ibs has praised his all-Kenyan starting five for setting the tempo for their thrilling win over Made By Basketball (MBB) in their penultimate tie of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) in Kigali on Saturday evening.
Ibs says the quintet of Albert Odero, Eugene Adera, Garang’ Diing, Ariel Koranga and Tylor Ongwae were determined to make the country proud, hence their vivacious start.
“We just felt we hadn’t represented ourselves in the way that we are accustomed to. Those guys in particular, really wanted this tonight. They wanted to show who we really are as a club and I am really proud of them. It was really the start that we needed,” Ibs said.
The Kenyan champions beat the South Africans 85-76 at the BK Arena to notch their first victory in the Nile Conference.
It was a refreshing sight to see as Odero starred for the Nairobians with 23 points, in addition to eight rebounds and three assists.
Other players who recorded double digits for Thunder included American-born Nigerian Uchenna Iroegbu (14 points), Diing (13 points), Yohane Kabongo (11 points), as well as Ongwae and Adera who each sunk 10 points.
The performance, especially in the last quarter where they muzzled their opponents, evoked wild celebrations and huge relief after the buzzer.
Ibs said it was necessary that they salvage pride from a tournament that has turned the tables on them with an unpalatable reality check.
“This win was massively important for us. After an unfortunate start, we wanted to make sure to leave this place with victory…to represent Kenya. You saw that in our starting line-up where we had all of them from our local league. They set the pace and I think we represented ourselves well as Thunder basketball in the way that we normally play in togetherness and connectedness. We haven’t been able to do that in this tournament,” the American said.
The coach also thanked Kenyan fans for supporting and encouraging them through the difficult period.
“They are really special…so many of them were gathered last night and they came out today to support us. It really brought me to tears when they cheered us as we walked off the court. They are such a great representation of Kenyan basketball fandom. We love it, we appreciate it and we can’t wait to do more for you,” Ibs said.
The Kenyans wrap up their campaign on Sunday evening against APR of Rwanda.
The first fixture between the two sides on May 17 ended in a 92-63 scoreline in favour of the hosts.
