Not A Good Friday For Nairobi City Thunder After Loss To Al Ahly Libya At BAL Kalahari Conference

PRETORIA, South Africa, Apr 3 –It was not a good Friday for the Nairobi City Thunder after suffering their third loss in the Basketball Africa League (BAL) Kalahari Conference, following a 107-80 defeat to Libya’s Al Ahly this evening at the SunBet Arena.

Nigerian power forward Joshua Nzeakor, who had 8 rebounds, and Derrick Ogechi racked in 13 points each as Nairobi City Thunder bounced back from the first quarter’s 26-19 defeat to dominate the second, which saw the Kenyan champions take a 42-40 lead at half-time.

Thunder saw the other four players hit the double digit; Albert Odero (12), Garang Diing (11), Eugene Adera (10), and captain Tylor Ongwae (10).

The loss now leaves Thunder’s playoff qualification hanging by a thread, with their last game seeing them face the unbeaten RSSB Tigers of Rwanda.

Head Coach Brad Ibs said it’s not over yet, calling on his charges not to deviate from character and remain consistent throughout all quarters.

“In all our games, we have put great stretches of basketball together and then get out of character, but it’s normal. We will keep on fighting to put together wins in all four quarters. We had a few untimely turnovers that changed the momentum of the game,” Ibs told Capital Sport after the game.

It was a double loss for the Thunder after shooting guard Albert Odero limped off towards the end of the second quarter after aggravating the hamstring injury that saw him miss the first two games.

“I can’t tell the extent of the injury to Albert; he is being examined,” Ibs said.

Odero was introduced in the middle of the first quarter and made an immediate impact, contributing 10 points to his team in the opening two quarters.

Nairobi City Thunder trailed Al Ahly Ly 19-26 in the first quarter before scoring 23 points in the second quarter against 14 to take a slim two-point lead at the break (42-40)

Returning for the second half, Thunder looked reluctant, allowing Al Ahly Ly to come back and win the third quarter 33-22 before things got out of control in the last quarter, where they lost 34-16.

Thunder next face Tigers on Sunday, the last day of the competition.  

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