Friday Results
- JKL Lady Dolphins 57-37 KCCA Leopards (Lady Dolphins lead series 1-0)
- Nam Blazers 81-56 KIU Titans (Blazers lead series 1-0)
Sunday Fixtures | YMCA
- W: UCU Lady Canons vs. KIU Rangers (Game One) – 12pm
- W: KCCA Leopards vs. JKL Lady Dolphins – 2pm
- M: UCU Canons vs. City Oilers (Game One) – 4pm
- M: KIU Titans vs. Nam Blazers – 6pm
Namuwongo Blazers took charge of the National BasketballLeague Playoffs semifinals series against KIU Titans.
The Blazers scorched Titans 81-56 in the series opener on Friday night behind David Deng’s 28 points in front of a Lugogo Indoor Stadium capacity crowd.
Namuwongo got off to a good start with their transition game working so well and got some open 3-point shots on the weak side for Paul Odong (10 points) taking a 19-8 lead at the end of the opening period.
Stanley Mugerwa who played one of hist best all round game as a Titan shone in the second and third quarter but Blazers manitained their double-digit lead going into the break thanks to Kenneth Wachira’s deep 3-pointer.
After the long interval, Titans employed a 2-3 zone and Blazer had trouble scoring as Titans pulled back. Mugerwa and Fideral Okoth as well Isaiah Ater who was marked out of the game sparked KIU’s run who came to within 3 points (37-40) midway through the quarter. However, Ariel Okall and Deng took obver the final five minutes of the quarter and Blazers restored their double digit lead going into the fourth quarter with a 14-points adavantage (56-42).
Blazers had a 6-0 run to start the fourth quarter taking the lead to 20 points and the game was all but done.
Okall was named the Tusker Lite Player of the Game. The center-forward finished with 17 points and 18 rebounds.
Fidel Okoth scored team high 20 points and pulled down 12 rebounds while Mugerwa the only other Titan to score in double figures had 19 points to go with 7 rebounds.
Game 2 of the series will be played on Sunday.
In the women’s division, JKL Lady Dolphins eased to a series lead beating KCCA Leopards 57-37.
Taudenciah Oluoch scored 18 points to lead the Lady Dolphins while player of the game Hope Akello contributed 12 points and pulled down 22 rebounds.
No KCCA player scored in double figures. Martha Soigi and Ruth Letaru scored 7 points each.
