History as Morans reach Afrobasket championships after 28 year hiatus

National men's basketball team, Kenya Morans, beat record Afrobasket title holders Angola 74-73 in tightly contested match to book a ticket to the Afrobasket championship scheduled for Rwanda in August.

Tylor Ongwae was the man of the moment as he sunk the final shot that sealed Kenya's slot to the continental scene on the buzzer after Angola had clawed back from a seven-point Kenya lead with two minutes to play to assume the lead at 73-72 with 17 seconds to play.

Knowing well that he would not be time barred, Ongwae, held on to the ball, his eyes fixed on the shot clock and made his move, side stepping Angola's defence for a clutch shot jump just inside the arch.

As the ball lingered on the top of the basket for what seemed an eternity, the other four Morans were already in position ready to pounce on any possible rebound and make it count but that was never to be.

As the ball dropped down the net on that basket, Ongwae was making his way to the bench and was up on his teammates' shoulder before the ball could hit the floor.

A tense one minute followed as the referees of the day consulted the Video Assistant Referee for a possible foul on the Angolan player before the buzzer shot. When the centre referee made his final verdict, all Morans were on the floor, breaking in dance and chest thumping as they knew they had inspired a generation with Saturday night's heroics.

Coach Liz Mills made one change to the starting five bringing in Joseph Khaemba who missed the Senegal match for Eric Mutoro. Ongwae, Preston Bungei, Tom Wamukota and Desmond Owili constituted the other starting five.

Wamukota gave Morans the lead with two free throws in the first minute of the match but Angola responded, scoring six points in a row for 6-2 lead. Morans pulled one back but were outplayed again, Angola adding 12 to their tally without a response from the homeboys. The period ended with Morans trailing 22-9.

Mills' charges played a better second half, scoring 19 points against Angola's 17 to head to the breather trailing by 11 points.

It is in the third quarter that Morans' fighting spirit came to play as they clwawd back from the 11 point deficit to make it a six point game at 50-44 with 3.33 minutes to play. Joel Awich who missed the first match against Senegal was the driving force to the rally.

With less than two minutes on the clock for the third quarter, Morans made it a three point game and maintained the tempo to head to the final period trailing by three points at 56-53.

Morans took the lead at 56-57 with 7.30 minutes to play but Angola made two quick baskets ,including a dunk, to go back at the helm at 60-57. Five quick points handed Morans the lead at 60-62 with Wamukota extending it to a four point game in Morans favour with a good jump shot under pressure.

What transpired in the remaining minutes was a tense three or so minutes for many Kenyans who rallied Morans on from the comfort of their homes late in the night until that buzzer-beater by Ongwae.