Nairobi City Thunder lost their third match at the ongoing Basketball Africa League (BAL) Kalahari Conference at SunBet Arena in Pretoria against Libya's Al Ahly Ly 107-80 on Friday.
Thunder's Head Coach Brad Ibs speaking to the media after the game insisted that the Nairobi-based side's campaign is not yet over, urging his boys to be consistent after losing their championship opener against Dar City, then Petro De Luanda and now against the side from Libya.
“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 said.
Thunder's shooting guard Albert Odero, who was introduced in the middle of the first quarter making an immediate impact, limped off towards the end of the second quarter after aggravating a hamstring injury that saw him miss the first two games. something that Ibs has also downplayed to quench the thirst of curiosity, but knows the consequences.
Derrick Ogechi scored 13 points, the same as Joshua Nzeakor to lead the scoring charts of the Nairobi side, while Donovan Williams and Jo Lual-Acuil both netted 23 points to lead the scores of the Benghazi side.
The Rwandese side Tigers and Angola's Petro De Luanda have already booked their playoffs tickets sitting comfortably on first and second position respectively on the six-team log, as Libya's Al Ahly is third, Tanzania's Dar-fourth while Kenya's Nairobi City Thunder is fifth, while Johannesburg Giants are bottom.
That loss on Friday has now dimmed Kenya's back to back national league champions who have only a win out of four games while in South Africa, with their only slight hope now being on Sunday, a must win against Rwanda's RSSB Tigers, unlike Al Ahly Ly's who now have won two out of four, thus increasing their chances of making it to the playoffs.
