KIU Titans 65-68 Power
Power are in the driving seat in the race to see who plays City Oilers in the finals of the National Basketball League after defeating KIU Titans 68-65 Sunday night.
Led by former KIU forward Michael Makiadi, who scored a game high 23 points, Power asked questions that head coach Hamza Nyambogo could not attempt to answer.
The university side struggled to find their rhythm in the first half with only Ivan Lumanyika, who is playing with a broken nose, functioning on offence.
Arnold Lando’s charges ensured they took the advantage having come from a game down and are now 40 minutes away from making the finals.
The Titans had most of their offensive options struggling to score and that gave Power the chance to run them down and score on fast breaks.
Sudi Ulanga and Norman Blick sat out the bigger part of the game with Nyambogo choosing to go with Burundian Francis Sokoraza and Samuel Agutu ahead of the two.
When Sokoraza failed to establish himself himself into the game, Ulanga got a chance that didn’t last long before KIU resorted to playing two natural point guards – Chris Omanye and Jean Hakizimana at the same time.
Ettiene Kazungu, who came off the bench to score 11 points, got two quick fouls in the fourth quarter to foul out with the game still anyone’s to take.
The five time champions held on with captain Joseph Ikong converting 2 free throws to give his side a 3-point advantage with 6 seconds left on the clock.
KIU search for a leveler was futile as Makiadi protected the rim before Agutu’s shot touched the steel for the ball to land in Paul Odong’s safe hands.
Ikong scored 14 points while Michael Kojjo continued with his good form scoring 12.
Lumanyika scored a team high 14 points while Omanye contributed 10 points in 34 minutes. Agutu scored 9 points and collected 7 rebounds for the Kansanga outfit.
The result leaves KIU in a familiar position from which they have never recovered while Power are a game away from confirming their presence in the finals.