NAIROBI (Premier League Playoffs) – Posta beat Co-operative Bank of Kenya 74-68 in an epic playoff semi-final game at Nyayo National Stadium gymnasium.
The mailmen jumped out to an early 7-0 lead but Co-op accounted for the next seven points to tie the score before Posta finished the quarter with a 17-12 advantage.
Co-op rallied again to tie the game at 21 courtesy of Bobby Okwako but three-pointers by Ancette Wafula and Akol Bol put Posta up 27-23, only for the bankers to once again come back and knot it at 31 all.
After the break, it was entertaining end-to-end stuff with Ben Oluoch edging Posta back in front, 33-31, before Co-op clawed back to tie it at 39 and took the lead. That was short lived though as Wafula buried a three-pointer and hit a pair of free-throws that made it 45-42.
Allan Ouma’s drive put Co-op up 47-46 but again a wide-open Wafula connected from long range as Posta took charge and a brilliantly contested third quarter ended with Posta up 57-53.
In the final frame, Titus Musembi stretched the mailmen’s lead to 60-53 and Wafula’s free-throws saw his team go up by as many as 15, 70-55, with five minutes left to play.
Co-op made one final charge with Abel Nson hitting consecutive three-pointers to cut the deficit to 71-67 in the waning minutes.
Posta seemed to panic but two foul shots by Wafula and another by Desmond Owili iced the cake for the mailmen’s third win against their rivals.
Wafula finished with a team-high 19 points, Musembi added 13 and Oluoch chipped in with 10. Nson led all scorers with 24 in Co-op’s losing cause, while Kiganya notched 17.
In Mombasa, national champions KCB Lions lost to Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) 83-71 in the other semi-final played at the Makande Welfare hall. Samuel Ocholla scored 19 points as did Dan Okwirri while Tony Okello scored 13.
KPA ladies on the other hand whipped Strathmore University 79-36 behind 25 points from Hilds Indasi. Joyce Makungu had 17 and Carol Mureji added 13 in the win.
In the lower division, Ulinzi Warriors maintained their winning ways as they beat Nakuru Club 68-58 at Menengai High School to move a step closer to gaining promotion.
Trailblazers recovered from a 40-31 halftime deficit to beat Mennonites 70-67. Ishmael Nyamache went for 18 points.
Nairobi Aviation College (NAC) beat Parklands Baptists 94-90 in a classification game. Edgar Kislai posted 29 points while Parklands got 32 from Dan Imbali.
Dann OWERRE
FIBA Africa