by Sande Bashaija
Wandegeya
Friday results
Power 84-85 Warriors
A-1 64-69 Leopards
Today at YMCA
Warriors v Power 6pm
A-1 Challenge v KCC 4pm
Warriors and KCC Leopards have taken a 2-1 lead in the men and women’s MTN-Fuba League best-of- seven final play-off series respectively. Warriors edged champions Power 85-84 while KCC Leopards overcame A-1 Challenge 69-64 in Game Three of the series Friday night at YMCA, Wandegeya.
YMCA was buzzing in every sense of the word save for UCU Canons player Ken Rot, who took it upon himself to turn the arena into a boxing ring. Rot, who is likely to be heavily apprehended by the basketball governing body for interrupting the Warriors-Power game threw a bottle and released a barrage of punches at some colleagues but deservedly spent the rest of Friday night in the coolers at Wandegeya Police station. Rot’s act was a complete opposite of what the hundreds of spectators had been enjoying with Warriors and Power tearing each other apart for a good cause - a championship. Warriors had a commanding start, winning first quarter 26-15 but Power stormed back in the second 27-14.
The lead exchanged hands until late in the final seconds when the game became too hard to call for even the bravest of punters. For Isaac Afidra, sport can’t get any harsher. He was only five seconds away from grabbing another Man-of-the-Match award and handing DMark Power a priceless win but Warriors ‘spoilt’ the party.
A 28-point hero on the night, Afidra had helped Power keep pace with Warriors in the game but he sent his pass on the inbound to the vast crowd and Power’s hopes of overturning the 85-84 score ended in tears. “We made so many errors today but the race is still on,” Power’s Joseph Ikong consoled himself. “I believe we can win the next game on Sunday (today).” Ikong was limited to only five points but Norman Blick (21) and Ben Komakech (14).
Kasewu’s brilliance saw him garner a game high 30 points. Steven Okias, Abdullahi Ramathan and Martin Okwako were all in double figures. game, A-1 Challenge surrendered and 11-point lead heading into the final quarter in losing to KCC.