KPA, Equity have backs on the wall after chastening defeats in Maputo

Kenyan teams at the Africa Women Basketball Championship in Maputo, Mozambique suffered heartaches after they both lost their matches on Day Three of action leaving their chances of advancing to the knockout stages hanging by the thread.

Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and Equity Bank who are also representing the Zone Five region lost their third and second games respectively in what turned out to be a bad day in office.

KPA lost 61-71 to Institut Nationale Securite Sociale (I.N.S.S) of DRC Congo in a Group  B match, just a day after they fell to First Bank of Nigeria 71-95 on Sunday.

The dockers performed miserably in all quarters; losing 22-20 in the first quarter before falling 19-13 in the second quarter.

In the third and fourth quarters, KPA improved and showed more power defensively and offensively losing with only a point in each quarter; 13-12 and 17-16 respectively.

Despite the loss, KPA head coach Antony Ojukwu praised her girls for the game they showed.

“It’s not about losing but how we played. The ladies played well and I appreciate them a lot. It’s mental lapses which killed us, they just need to focus and concentrate on the game,” Ojukwu said.

On her part team captain Brenda Angeshi who missed the game due to injury rued bad luck.

“We played our best but luck was on their side. We are now looking forward to today’s final group game,” She said in reference to the 4.30pm clash against MB2ALL of Madagascar.

A defeat in this clash may but all set them up against Group A favourites and home team Ferroviaro Maputo in quarter finals .This is a tough date which coach Ojukwu will definitely not want to plot for and therefore his charges must rally to get an impressive result.

On the other hand, Equity Bank failed to show the strength they exhibited in the Zone Five Championship where they emerged winners after they lost their second game on the bounce going down 44-77 to Forces Armees Police (FAP) of Cameroon last evening.

This defeat came in the backdrop of a 45-68 meltdown in the hands of Ferroviaro de Maputo of Mozambique on Saturday in a Group A match.

The bankers secured a 13-13 draw in the first quarter before suffering a 30-11 upset in the subsequent quarter .However this was followed by twin defeats of 8-17 and 12-17.

The bankers now have to win at least one of the remaining two matches against Victoria Club of DRC set for today and Interclube of Angola (tomorrow) for them to have any realistic chance of playing in the quarters.

This notwithstanding, the bankers will most probably face a much stronger side from Group B if at all they qualify with First Bank of Nigeria a likely opponent at this stage.

First Bank meanwhile continued with their good run in the tournament winning their third match consecutively hammering Lakers of Zimbabwe 86-56 in a Group B match to keep their hopes of topping the group high.

Deemed one of the tourneys’s favourites, they’re also angling for the title.

In a Group A clash, home team Ferroviaro Maputo crashed Victoria Club of DRC Congo 78-41 to continue with their excellent run on home soil.

Today’s fixtures

KPA VS MB2ALL of Madagascar

Equity Bank VS Victoria Club of DRC

Lakers of Zimbabwe VS I.N.S.S of DRC

InterClube of Angola VS Ferroviario Maputo of Mozambique