Nairobi — Nairobi City Thunder remained unbeaten in the Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) Men's Premier League, but had to do it by the skin of their teeth, after edging out Equity Dumas by a basket and a half in a thrilling match played Saturday night at the Nyayo National Stadium Gymnasium.
With five seconds to play, Equity's new signing Eugene Adera scaled for a lay-up, but saw the ball agonizingly bounce off the rim, with a three point margin to cover. Equity then won a foul and a side-ball from the restart, asked for a time out with three seconds to go as they tried to rally back.
The ball was sprayed to the impressive Joel Ntambwe who went for a three-pointer, the ball coming off the rim again and his attempt at running for the offensive rebound futile. The buzzer went, and it was the story of just how frantic and thrilling the Saturday night duel was under the Nyayo Gymnasium lights.
It was the closest the runaway leaders Thunder had been run this season, and even their coach, Brad Ibs admitted they were lucky to win.
"Credit to them (Equity) because they have a really good team out there. They put in a good fight but for us I didn't feel like we really played well. Our shooting was not the best and we missed several shots that normally we would have taken," American Ibs told Capital Sports after the match.
Thunder came from as far back as 10-points behind to win the duel and Equity were left with what ifs and how they failed to control the flow of the game especially in the second quarter.
"I mean it is a case of what ifs and what would have been, but overally, it is a hard one to take for the boys. They will be disappointed with this," Equity coach Isaac Munyoki told Capital Sports.
"What I saw on the court today, I have seen everyday in training. We have a bunch of warriors on this team and we fought to the last second. It was unlucky to lose but we pick up from here. We have just started the second leg and I believe we will get better," the tactician, visibly crestfallen with the defeat, said.
Having been beaten convincingly in the first leg by the talent-laden Thunder, Equity, who have recruited well in mid-season with the addition of Ntambwe as well as Adera from rivals KPA were in the mood for the second leg, at a fully packed court.
Quick dribbling Albert Odero was the engine that ran the Thunder machine, with a game high 25 points to his name while the burly Ariel Okall also recorded double digit scores with 12 points.
Victor Bosire was Equity's main man as he had 18 points, and was especially effective in driving the bankers from deep and initiating plays.
Equity had a good start in the game and led 27-17 at the end of the first quarter. Bosire was in the mood with back to back three's responding to Thunder's Ariel Ortega and Odero, who had also hit some from downtown.
But, the bankers lost some grip in the second quarter where Thunder outscored them by 11 points, to lead by half a basket at halftime.
With just 2:55 played, Thunder had already reduced the gap to just two points, Equity erratic in their shooting and Thunder using their massive frames to easily pick up the defensive rebounds.
A dunk from Odero brought the house down as Thunder took the lead for the first time in the second quarter and had gone two points ahead with 1:54 to play when the American-born shooting guard won a foul and made both from the free throw line.
The third quarter was tightly contested, with Thunder ending with a three-point lead, Okal's three pointer at the buzzer of the short clock seeing them go 59-56 up with under four seconds to play.
Equity made attempts to bridge the gap in the fourth quarter of the duel, but were put off by a bad start. Odero had his second dunk of the night, rising highest under the rim on an offensive rebound as Thunder went five points clear with 4:12 to play.
With 1:54 to play, the gap had grown to six points and Equity asked for a timeout. On return, Ntambwe went on beast mode as he drove into the Thunder paint time to time, in a bid for a late comeback.
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They reduced the gap to four points when Ntambwe drew a foul and converted 2/2 from the free-throw line. Moments later, Adera was fouled but he only did ½. They had another chance when Ntambwe was fouled again, but this time both his shots bounced off the rim.
On the other end, Thunder had a bucket as they went back six points clear. Skipper Bosire however won a foul and a basket, converting from the free throw line to take the scores to 72-69 with 28 seconds to play.
A free throw a piece on either end of the court saw the scores go to 73-70, and Equity's attempt to get themselves level were futile.
Thunder remain top of the standings with 30 points from 15 matches, while Equity drop down to third, with USIU going second after their stunning victory over KPA in Mombasa.
In another match played Saturday, Umoja bounced back from last weekend's defeat to USIU after beating University of Nairobi's Terror 61-53.
