NAIROBI (Kenya) - The hosts of the East Division Elite 16, Nairobi City Thunder (NCT), got their campaign off to a winning start by seeing off Namuwongo Blazers 89–62.
In a game of two halves, the Blazers kept the Thunder on their toes throughout the first half, but were outplayed in the final two quarters, losing by 27 points.
The hosts capitalised on their superior speed and rebounding (61–47) to score 24–8 on fast breaks, making their 20 offensive rebounds count, compared to seven for the Ugandan team.
The Blazers enjoyed an early lead, with Jovan James Mooring scoring eight quick points as the Ugandan side led 11–5, forcing the hosts to take an early timeout.
Tylor Ongwae's jump shot from range — his second of the quarter — tied the game at 15 points with two and a half minutes remaining in the opening period, with the hosts trailing 25-23.
NCT continued to dominate, with Eugene Adera's layup off a fast break restoring their lead at 29–28, and extending it to 32–30 with a three from David Deng Kongor Deng.
The Ugandans refused to budge, keeping the difference below five points.
Tony Dribela tied the game at 40, but Lance Thomas replied with a three-pointer — his third successful attempt — to give the hosts a three-point lead at half-time.
Albert Odero, who had a quiet opening half and scored just five points, exploded in the opening minutes of the third quarter, scoring nine points, including his first three-pointer, as the hosts started to pull away.
Thomas and Ongwae extended the lead to double digits at 56-44, and the dominant performance in the quarter ended with a score of 25-11, with Odero contributing 11 points to give them a lead of 67-51.
The Blazers could do little in the final stanza as the Bradley Ibs maintained their momentum to win 22–11.
Thomas and Odero led the scoring for the hosts with 18 and 16 points respectively; Ogechi and Ongwae also reached double figures with 14 and 13 points.
Ater Majok led the team's defence, pulling down 11 rebounds, one more than Adera. Mooring and James Okello were the only Blazers players to reach double figures, with 15 and 11 points respectively.
"The start was all about first game jotters, but we got it through in the second half. That's a championship team, they just won their national league and we couldn't take them for granted. We will get better game by game. Despite the slow start, we are not worried. Sometimes you get into rhythm slow but I believe in the squad. We have been together for a while and we are able to come together, regroup and push for those wins," NCT's Albert Odero.
"It was a tough encounter, but we expected that at this level. It was relatively close until the third quarter when we went away from what was working in the opening half. We stopped playing as a unit , allowed them a couple of fast breaks off our very bad offense. We did not make the best choice of shots and that kept their momentum going. We have one more match in the group and we will make adjustments before tomorrow's tough clash, hoping to get back to winning ways," Namuwong Blazers Forward Tony Drileba.
FIBA