3 hours Ago By ALEX ISABOKE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 29 – Nairobi City Thunder head coach Brad Ibs was left a delighted man after his side hit South Africa’s MBB Basketball for a century in their opening match of the Elite 16 Road to BAL 2025 at the Nyayo Gymnasium Thursday night. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp Thunder rose from a slow start to pick a crushing 102-59 victory over the South Africans, to start their campaign on a high. While it was Nigerien import Harouna Abdoulaye who starred with 18 points, substitute Ken Wachira who came on as a last quarter substitute lit up the crowd with a sensational 15 points in 10 minutes, nine of them from beyond the arch.
“I am really delighted because of our bench rotation. Ken came on and put up a brilliant performance with some well executed shots. It just shows how much of a talented squad we have.
We could actually use all 11 and still maintain a good performance,” coach Ibs said after the game. Thunder’s Tylor Okari in action He added; “I expected us to win and win comfortably. Probably not 100 but I did expect this kind of a performance.
The only worry was the bit of a slow start but you could understand because most of these guys haven’t played competitively since Tanzania.” Four Thunder players chalked double digits in an emphatic performance. Garang Diing had 16, Uche Iroegbu 10, Wachira 15, Harouna 18 and Albert Odero 15.
Thunderhad a slow start with MBB going on an 8-0 scoring run, a powerful start to edge them some confidence. However, purred on by the home crowd, Thunder slowly crawled back and went on a 7-0 scoring run to catch up. The opening quarter ended 19-17 in favour of the South Africans.
However, Thunder were a different animal in the second quarter, powered by the six foot nine Ater Majok and Harouna, they managed to completely dominate and had an 11-point lead at 48-37 by halftime. Nairobi City Thunder’s Garang Ding in action against MBB In the third quarter, the Kenyan side kept their press with Harouna and Garang being effective with their shots from the three point arch. In the final quarter, with a healthy 70-54 lead, coach Ibs was okay enough to rotate his bench and brought in Wachira.
The former KPA shooting guard introduced himself with back to back threes lifting the roof off the arena, before going on to chalk 15 points. There was also time to field youngster David Baraka, who managed to play the final four minutes of the quarter as Thunder scored 32 points in a dominant display. The Kenyan side will shift their attention to Cape Verde champions Kriol Star who they face at 8pm Friday.
Victory will edge them closer to a place in the semi-finals. The two finalists will qualify for the BAL final tournament next year..
