by Sande Bashaija
Lugogo
Results
Men
Warriors 69-66 Falcons
Crane High 66-69 St. Michael
Today
Sharing v TLC
A-1 Challenge v Stormers
Amazon v Mak Cubs
Heaters v Vegetearin
There were no elections at Lugogo Indoor Stadium but Electoral Commission chairman Badru Kigundu made a surprise appearance. His presence among hundreds of basketball fanatics made the atmosphere on Friday night even more electrifying.
And action on court didn’t disappoint too. Although low scoring going by both teams’ standards, the game between six-time MTN-Fuba League champions Falcons and Warriors will go down in history as one of the best witnessed in Uganda’s arenas. 70-67 was the final score in favour of Warriors but even Falcons fans left with their heads high that their team had put up a commendable fight.
A fight that saw them win the opening two quarters 12-11 and 18-14 respectively. That was the end of their part.
Tanzanian import Ramathan Abdulahi, undoubtedly the best player on the night, orchestrated the chase as Warriors recovered to win the final two quarters 22-17 and 23-20 respectively. “We worked out for this game for quite a long time. This is a fitting reward,” Warriors assistant coach Peter Wandukwa commented.
The win though didn’t come on a silver platter. Falcons’ lack of depth notwithstanding, looked the better side only to be pegged back by an ejection of their best player Stephen Omony (16 points) with 4:23 minutes left in fourth quarter. Even with Omony gone Falcons kept up the fight for a while.
With 15 seconds on the clock, Stephen Okias put Warriors ahead 68-67 before Abdulahi put the icing on the cake.
“There are some few errors that cost us tonight. Nonetheless, it was a good game of basketball. I hope the fans enjoyed it,” Falcons patron John Ssimbwa said.
Ronnie Kasewu scored 21 points while Kenyan Martin Okwako added 10 for Warriors. Henry Malinga sunk in a game high 22 points.