Nairobi City Thunder ripped apart by Petro to drop second game in BAL

Kenyan basketball side, Nairobi City Thunder, suffered their second defeat at the ongoing 2026 Basketball Africa League (BAL) after going down 97-70 to Angola’s Petro De Luanda at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa on Wednesday, 1 April.

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Thunder, who on Sunday rebounded from their opening day defeat to Dar City with a comfortable win over Johannesburg Giants, were, this time, outmatched by their heavyweight opponents, who used their suffocating defense to get their second win of the tournament, in what was also BAL's 200th game.

After taking a slim 24-20 lead at the end of the first quarter, the 2024 BAL champions Petro went on an emphatic 24-0 run in the second quarter, extending their lead to 28 points at the break.

That run was fuelled by a mix of strong defense and efficient offense, with the former restricting Thunder to just 11 points in that frame.

In fact, Thunder’s first points in the quarter came with only 3:08 to go, when the returning Albert Odero drained a three to make it 50-26 at the time.

A strong third quarter saw Thunder cut Petro’s deficit to 18 points, but even then, the game looked lost, with Sergio Moreno’s outfit romping to a 27 point victory, which boosted their chances of making it to the BAL Finals in Rwanda next month.

Leading the way for Petro was power forward Glofate Buiamba, who poured in 15 points off the bench, while the cast of Milton Bande, Yanick Moreira, Kacuol Jok and Childe Dundao all scored double digits, to avenge a shock loss to RSSB Tigers on Sunday, 29 March.

The six-footer Buiamba was particularly impressive in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, when he connected on two three-pointers to fend off a closing Thunder side.

Whilst Odero, who did not feature in Thunder’s first two games was his usual highlight reel with 11 points, it was BAL debutant Derrick Ogechi who carried much of his side’s load, coming away with a game-high 20 points, and perfect off the free-throw line.

His hustle-play especially in the third-quarter was key as Thunder went from a 33-point hole with seven minutes remaining, to trailing by only 15 with two minutes left.

Lance Thomas kept up his impressive showing for Thunder with another double-digit score (11 points), but alongside bench-player Garang Diing, led the team in turnovers - contributing four each, for a huge total of 17.

From those turnovers, Petro capitalized to score 27 points, the difference between both sides on the day.

More work to do from Bradley Ibs and his side on Friday, 3 April, when they come up against defending champions Al Ahly Libya.

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