by Sande Bashaija
Wandegeya
Saturday results
Warriors 77-87 Falcons
(Warriors lead series 2-1)
Women
A-1 Challenge 57-55 Canons
Wednesday at YMCA
Falcons v Warriors
Prior to Saturday, Henry Malinga had stated that Falcons would play their best game ever. Whether the 87-77 victory over Warriors in Game Three of the MTN Fuba League play-offs is Falcons’ best ever performance is subject to debate but their potential to rise to the occasion can’t be questioned.
The Mountain Dew-sponsored team were on the verge of elimination but after four quarters at YMCA Wandegeya, most Warriors fans left with their arms stacked to the head in frustration.
What should worry Warriors is the fact that Malinga, undoubtedly the best centre player in Uganda, sat out the game with his incessant knee problems but should return for the crucial clash on Wednesday. “I told my players to take the game as a real life situation,” Falcons coach Michael Mureithi said. “When you are stuck in life, you don’t give up.” Having lost to Warriors four times this year, the Saturday encounter looked like another outright battering for Falcons but the record champions showed that their confidence knows no bounds.
Inspired Lugudde
“We love being against the wall, that’s when we give our best,” a cheerful Falcons patron John Ssimbwa remarked. Without Malinga, Isaac Lugudde played like a possessed man, shooting from all corners and was unsurprisingly voted man of the match after garnering a game high 26 points for Falcons. Stephen Omony dropped 24 while Eric Malinga and Sam Obol garnered 11 apiece in what turned out to be a comfortable victory for Falcons despite Abdullahi Ramadhan efforts to keep Warriors afloat with four three-pointers in third quarter.
Tanzanian Ramadhan finished with 18 points and must be disappointed that his heroics couldn’t win the game. Meanwhile, 2003 women champions A-1 Challenge revenged their loss to UCU Lady Canons in last year’s final by denying them another appearance in the ultimate stage. Spurred by Josephine Namayega’s 13 points, A-1 Challenge edged the title holders 57-55 to complete a 3-0 clean sweep in the best-of-five series.