Oluoch unimpressed with WolfPack's show despite win over Absa

Africa Nazarene University’s WolfPack head coach Michael Oluoch has slammed his charges for a slow start in Wednesday's game against ABSA, saying it almost cost them a win.

WolfPack defeated the Bankers 53-49 in a closely contested match of the Kenya National Men’s Basketball Premier League played at Nyayo Gymnasium, Nairobi.

The coach thus wants an improved show in the next match, from the outset.

“The game was not that bad, but we started badly. I think my boys were underrating our opponents. The first half was really bad but then in the second half is we stepped up and lucky enough we got the win,” Oluoch said.

“We need to change our mind-set going forward. We need to look at the way we start our games because that also affected us when we played against University of Nairobi’s Terror last weekend,” Oluoch added.

In the midweek match, both teams had a low scoring first quarter as they netted seven points each before the Bankers controlled the second quarter winning 20-14.

ABSA continued with their impressive display in the third quarter scoring again 20-14 before ANU responded with a massive win of 18-02 as the game ended 53-49 at the final buzzer.

With four games to go in the regular season, ANU have played 18 matches winning ten and losing eight, accumulating 28 points.

Meanwhile, despite beating Strathmore Swords 56-38, Zetech Sparks head coach Maurice Obilo has conceded that his girls punched below their weight.

The win saw the students reach 35 points from 18 matches, having won 17 and lost one only against the defending champions Kenya Ports Authority (KPA).

“Yes we won but we played so badly, the game didn’t click, we had a lot of turnovers, we were giving a lot of fouls. We were missing the easy baskets that were supposed to be converting.

"We need to correct it before we go to Mombasa for a weekend match, otherwise we take the win as we face the next team. We take one game at a time,” Obilo said.

Zetech will be facing defending champions KPA away in Mombasa on Sunday at the Makande Gymnasium.

Meanwhile, Obilo has commended his Nairobi Select side head for their stellar performance against Twende Ladies on Wednesday, in a friendly match at Nyayo Stadium Gymnasium.

Nairobi edged Twende 44-42 to win the match, despite a short time to assemble the team according to Obilo.

“Definitely we feel good about the match, we did not train due to the short notice for the duty. We just had a talk before the game and from the results we are happy,” he said.

Despite facing an initial setback in the first two quarters, Obilo praised his team's resilience, highlighting their remarkable turnaround in the second half of the game.

“In the first and second quarters, we really struggled because the players had never played together. We used most of our time outs in the quarters trying get them play as a team. They picked up in the second half and it was a good show.”

In a separate friendly also organised by the Twende Foundation, Nairobi Thunder secured a 77-69 win over visiting South Sudanese Cobras Basketball.