IBA AfroBasket: Kenya Morans a game away from historical quarter finals

South Sudan stands in the way of Kenya Morans’ historic qualification for the quarter finals of the FIBA AfroBasket currently going on in Kigali, Rwanda. The match will take place on Tuesday.

Kenya, under the tutelage of Australia female coach Liz Mills, needed a performance of their life to stand any chances of staying in the championship and they did exactly that in defeating Mali 72-66 in their final Group C match on Sunday.

Heading into the match, both sides were winless in their opening two matches having lost to both Nigeria and Ivory Coast.

But with team work, passion, hard work, consistency and individual brilliance, Morans led by captain Griffins Ligare put in a dominant performance to win the match and secure a place in the qualification round.

Taylor Ongwae, once again, delivered when it mattered most after leading with 16 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists followed by captain Ligare, who managed 12 points, eight rebounds and three steals.

Power forward Ronald Gombe had nine points, seven rebounds and two monster blocks while Victor Bosire had eight points and Albert Odero seven.

Ibrahim Djambo was Mali’s top scorer with 19 points and eight rebounds, followed by Siriman Kanoute (12) and Abdramane Camara (11).

Meanwhile, Cote d’Ivoire outlasted Nigeria 77-68 in Sunday’s second game to win Group C and secure the group’s automatic ticket to the last eight.

Nigeria, on the other hand, dropped to 2-1 to finish second and will now take on Uganda on Tuesday in the qualification round to the quarters.

In Sunday’s last game, Senegal closed their Group D campaign undefeated in three games after trouncing short-handed Cameroon 98-65.

Senegal, who average a tournament-high 98.3 points per game and have defeated their three opponents – Cameroon, South Sudan and Uganda – by a winning margin of 33 points per game – took the group’s automatic quarters slot.

Cameroon have been eliminated with a 0-3 record after losing all their three group phase encounters.

PHOTO/COURTESY