KPA off to a losing start as BAL elite 16 gets underway

Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) men’s league champions and Basketball Africa League (BAL) representatives Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) had a faulty start at the Elite16 after falling to Burundian side Urunani 72-43 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Antony Ojukwu's charges were down 36-13 by halftime, and they could not salvage the second half as Ururani perfect scoring 18 points in each quarter of the match.

KPA had an improved display in the third and fourth quarters as compared to the first half, giving Urunani a run for their money but ended up losing narrowly with much of the damage having been done in the first half.

Landry Ndikumana scored the most points in the game with 18, while George Williams was KPA's best scorer with 13 points.

The Mombasa-based club is in Pool A of the East Division qualifiers alongside the Burundian side, NBA Academy, and South Africa’s Cape Town Tigers.

Urunani finished the preliminary qualifiers held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania last month with a perfect 3-0 record, overcoming Army Basketball Club of Tanzania), City Oilers of Uganda and Matero Magic of Zambia.

They earned a ticket to the Elite 16 in Kigali, where KPA blanked Ferroviaro de Maputo (Mozambique) 79-67 and Cobra Sports 83-53 but sadly bowed out after missing their opening fixture against City Oilers (Uganda).