KPA advance to BAL round two, target regional glory

Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) have advanced to the second round of the Basketball Africa League (B.A.L) qualifiers after topping group C in the just concluded Round One qualifiers held in Madagascar.

This came after the Kenyans defeated all their opponents and now heads top Round Two that will be held in Rwanda later this month as they seek to play in the BAL league that will take place in Rwanda next year.

The Mombasa based club hammered Usoni BC of Comoros 121-74 in their last match a result that earned them the ticket  to next’ month’s  assignment.

KPA had defeated hosts Gendarmerie Nationale Basketball Club (GNBC) 98-84, Beau Vallon Heat Basketball Club of Seychelles 131-54, and Cobra Sport Club of South Sudan 81-78 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday respectively.

In their last match against Usoni, the Dockers dominated all quarters, winning 34-17 win in the first quarter, 25-13 in the second quarter, going to the half time leading 59-30.

KPA continued with the same tempo after the break, registering a 28-15 win before winding up with a comfortable 34-29 in the last quarter.

Job Ayodi led the scoring for KPA, scoring 24 points while Kennedy Wachira scored 19.

KPA head coach Sammy Kiki praised his boys for a well done job.

“We played well, execution was perfect as the boys played according to instructions and that’s why we emerged champions,” Kiki said.

As KPA will be participating in the Round Two of East Division in Rwanda later this month which will comprise of eight teams, the round two of West Division will be taking place in Cameroon.

Thereafter the top three in each division will qualify for the Basketball Africa League to meet the six already seeded top teams hence 12 teams in total.

The seeded top six teams are from Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Nigeria, Senegal and Angola.

The Basketball Africa League is new in Africa after the Zone Five for men was abolished so that all winners in the local leagues participate in the BAL qualifier which is a partnership between FIBA and NBA.