by Sande Bashaija
Kampala
Result
Falcons 83-70 Warriors
Tomorrow at YMCA
Warriors v Falcons 8pm
Warriors need no reminder of what Falcons are capable of doing, or do they? After losing the 2007 title to Falcons despite taking a 2-0 final series lead, Warriors are on the verge of elimination from this year’s title race at the hands of the same side.
The best of five semi-final series that Warriors had in control 2-0 a week ago are now tied 2-2 following Falcons’ 83-70 victory in Game Four at YMCA Wandegeya on Wednesday night. The decisive Game 5 is due tomorrow. “We made so many rushed decisions on execution, that kind of made them dominate the defensive boards yet we didn’t get the defensive rebounds,” Warriors coach Gad Eteu, bemused by what had befallen his array of stars, said after the Wednesday clash. Eteu analysis was very perfect.
Falcons, sponsored by Moutain Dew, looked no match for Warriors on the night even with the massive crowd rooting relentlessly for the latter. 20-11, 22-17 in favour of Falcons read the scorecards after two quarters and frustration could easily be noticed from every Warriors player’s face.
Third quarter ended 19-all but a Warriors’ resurgence was always expected. They resorted to full-court press and it seemed to work, cutting Falcons’ lead to within three points (68-65) with four minutes to the end of the game. Not on a night when Sam Obol and his Falcons counterparts were shooting with lots of ease.
“It’s good we’ve won but there is no need to get excited,” Obol (22 points) said. “There is still a lot of work to do in Game Five.” Peter Elungant whose heroics helped Falcons return sanity late in the fourth scored 16 points, Eric Malinga got 18 and Stephen Omony 14 despite not getting a rest in the game. Kenyan Martin Okwako scored 17 points, Steven Okias 9 and Ronnie Kasewu 10 for Warriors.