by Sande Bashaija
Wandegeya
Today at YMCA
Falcons v Warriors 8pm
(Warriors lead series 2-1)
Falcons find themselves in a more familiar situation when they face Warriors in Game Four of the MTN-Fuba League semi-final play-off series at YMCA tonight.
Falcons are trailing 1-2 after three games and a loss tonight will end their hopes of winning a seventh championship.
But like their patron John Simbwa insists, the record champions always deliver in tight situations. “We like this kind of pressure,” Simbwa stated after his charges convincingly defeated Warriors 87-77 in Game Three at the weekend.
“Be sure we shall take this trophy if we negotiate this hurdle.” In 2002, Falcons overcame a 2-0 deficit to beat Sky Jammers 3-2 in the best-of-five final series and repeated the feat two years ago against the Warriors.
“The next game (today’s) will bring the best out of the team,” Simbwa noted. That Falcons managed to rest the injured Henry Malinga and outclassed Warriors with ease was even more intriguing.
Yet, Warriors by far dwarf Falcons in terms of squad depth not to mention experience. The foreign pair of Tanzanian Abdullahi Ramadhan and Kenyan Martin Okwako has made Warriors look like a championship-winning side but that’s just on paper until they eliminate Falcons.
Confident Lugudde
“We don’t want to play five games. The series will be wrapped up on Wednesday (today),” Warriors assistant coach Peter Wandukwa said.
Voted man of the match in Game Three, Isaac Lugudde is too confident Falcons are winning the series. “I am even willing to stake money. Warriors can’t defeat us in five games,” Lugudde vowed.
The winner of the series will take on defending champions DMark Power, who eliminated Kampala International University (KIU) 3-1 at the weekend.