Clique Mambas through to NBA final

Nairobi Basketball Association (NBA) men’s league final will be a clash between the unbeaten Peninah Nthenya-coached Moischers and Rose Mshila-led Clique Mambas.

Nthenya has guided her side to an unbeaten run from the regular season and on to the round of 16, best-of-three quarters and best-of-five semis, a record the Eastlands-based side will look to continue in the final.

On their part, Mshila’s charges had a much tougher journey in the semis as they had to play all five matches, coming from behind in the decider clash to dim Africa’s Dream final hopes with a 60-55 win.

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The decider match played on Sunday 20 November saw Evelyn Kedogo’s Africa Dream start the match on a high, going ahead 18-10 in the first quarter. The tables turned in the second period and Mambas won 21-16 to cut their deficit to three points and set the stage for an entertaining second half.

After the break, there was no favourite as both sides fought as if their lives depended on the outcome of this all-important game which, on top of giving the winner a chance to fight for the title, also qualified them for the inter-Province playoffs that qualifies teams to the Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) leagues.

Kedogo’s charges won the quarter 12-11 to hold on their advantage but faltered when it mattered going down 18-9 in the final quarter to see Mambas carry the day and book a date with the Jeff Onyango-powered Moischers.

Meanwhile, the women’s final got underway on Sunday with Stanbic Bank taking Game One of Five against Safe Spaces in a 44-36 outcome.

The bankers surprised Safe Spaces with a strong 10-3 lead in the first quarter and raved up 16-9 in the second. a 14-5 advantage in the third quarter for Safe Spaces did little to change the game’s tide as the bankers went 13-10 in the final period to seal the win.

“We did not have much of a strategy in this game as we wanted to have a test of what Safe Spaces bring to the final then we can strategize from there. We are looking to build on the good start going forward. We will take it one match at a time.

I know they (Safe Spaces) are a strong side as we went 1-1 in the regular season, so we expect a very strong response from them in the second match,” offered Stanbic tactician Radhi Ndalu.

Safe Spaces, Stanbic clash in NBA final