UGANDA : Power on course for basketball title defence

By Charles Mutebi

D’MARK Power are just four wins away from retaining the MTN-FUBA men's basketball league championship.

A graceful Ben Komakech, who sunk a game-high 23 points, was the star as Power wrapped up their best-of-five playoff semi-finals against KIU with a 94-83 overtime victory in Game 4.

The win gave Power an unassailable 3-1 series lead and a ticket to the final.

However, Power could have lost this match if KIU danger-man Makmot Orom had converted both his free throws with seven seconds to play in the fourth quarter with Power having a slim lead of 81-80.

But Orom, who had netted four three-pointers on the way to finishing with 23, could only score one of the foul shots, sending the game to overtime. Once there, it was almost like Power suddenly awoke from a slumber or rather KIU went into one.

Nimrod Kaboha’s side scored only two points compared to Power’s 13 as a match that had been evenly-matched for 40 minutes suddenly became a mismatch.

It was partly due to the absence of Michael Karuiki, who having sunk 22 points for KIU, was fouled out. Mainly though, it was arguably due to Power’s depth in strength, which appeared to take its toll on KIU in overtime.

Power’s array of stars had taken turns to inflict damage and at the end Isaac Afidra had 22 points, Richard Balemwa 15, Michael Kojo 13 and Norman Blick 10.

KIU, who have beaten Power twice this year, are still the only local side to have defeated them this season.

Nevertheless, Andrew Bazira’s side will need to raise their performance if they are to take their winning record in the finals.

Bazira acknowledged after the game: “Our concentration from the beginning was a bit sloppy”.

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MTN-FUBA PLAYOFF SEMIS
Men’s Div 1
Game 4: Power 94 KIU 83
(Power win series 3-1)