Sande Bashaija
Wandegeya
Today at YMCA
Sharing Youth v TLC 12pm
St Michael v Heaters 2pm
Warriors v Falcons 6pm
Women
A-1 v Lady Canons 4pm
With two wins already in the bag, Warriors and A-1 Challenge will each seal a place in the MTN-Fuba League finals if they get things right in Game Three of the semi-final series tonight.
Warriors recorded a lucky 73-71 win against Falcons while A-1 Challenge outwitted women defending champions 62-57 on Wednesday to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.
Whereas A-1 Challenge have proved too strong for Lady Canons., Warriors can’t take their opponents for granted. Only two years ago, Warriors had a 2-0 lead in the final play-off series but ended up surrendering the trophy to Falcons. That alone should give them lots of worries but Jude Ochen, who sunk the winning basket for Warriors on Wednesday, cares less about Falcons’ psychological advantage.
“I know they are a decent side but we are taking the series,” Ochen, a former Falcons player, noted. Like they proved on Wednesday, Falcons still have the fighting spirit and can turn tables but an injury crisis could put paid their aspirations.
Their talisman Henry Malinga was clearly playing under lots of pain after aggravating his knee injury and Kenyan coach Michael Mureithi might have to juggle his team around to lessen the burden on Malinga. “Henry is hurting but Eric (Malinga) has recovered and can shoulder some of the responsibilities,” Mureithi said.
“We can still win this contest,” he vowed. If Stephen Omony and Sam Obol can spark like they did in Game Two, Warriors have a very tough battle at hand.
For A-1 Challenge coach Hamza Nyambongo, the result looks obvious but not until the final whistle. “Let’s wait for the next game and see how it goes. It’s not yet time to celebrate,” Nyambongo said after Game Two. He will however be encouraged by the fact that Lady Canons have never defeated his team in a league encounter.