by Sande Bashaija
Wandegeya
Yesterday’s results
Falcons 66-89 KPA
Power 89-86 Warriors
Tomorrow at YMCA (4-6pm)
Finals (men and women)
Falcons followed local league champions DMark Power through the exit door of the Africa Zone 5 Sprite Championship after a lackluster performance in their last Group A game against Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) at YMCA, Friday night.
The 2000 champions succumbed to a 66-89 loss to the Kenyans, finishing fourth in the six-team group on seven points. Falcons came into the game knowing that only victory would give them a mathematical chance of squeezing through but did little to stop the Kenyans.
KPA secured top spot on nine points following the victory, one ahead of Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB). Rwandan side Marines Marines dealt Falcons and themselves a big blow when they surrendered an 18-9 lead to lose 61-64 to KCB in their last group match.
Marines would have topped the group with victory against KCB, and opened the door for Falcons to finish second as long as they defeated KPA. But nothing worked in Falcons’ favour. “I can’t explain what happened to us against KPA. We didn’t play the game we were supposed to play,” Falcons patron John Ssimbwa said. “If you give players instructions and they don’t follow them, what do you do?” he wondered.
However tight the group was, Falcons looked good enough for a semi-final slot but a poor start ensured their elimination. “The way we played our first game (against Marines) was our undoing. We gave it away carelessly and it became costly in the end,” Ssimbwa noted.
Most successful
Falcons, Uganda’s most successful club, opened their campaign with a 71-75 loss to Marines before going down 69-75 against KCB. A convincing 85-73 victory over Tanzanian side ABC and another hard-fought 86-85 win against Burundi’s Newstars somewhat resurrected their campaign.
However, a stale first quarter 15-21 performance killed all the rhythm as Falcons went on to lose all the other sessions 14-19, 17-21 and 20-29 against KPA.
Henry Malinga grabbed 17 points and Stephen Omony added 15 as Falcons got their last taste of Zone 5 action.
The Odari brothers Francis and Musa top scored for KPA with 23 and 20 points respectively. DMark Power, already eliminated, edged semifinalists Warriors 89-86 in their final Group B game.