Thunder will step up their defence against Ulinzi Warriors in the play-off finals Game Two at Nyayo Stadium gymnasium this afternoon.
Coach Collins Gaya hailed his teams effort in a close 75-73 victory against favourites Ulinzi Warriors, saying depth and patience was key to the upset.
“Our bench won us the game. Their contribution at both ends was remarkable. We did a good job in containing their danger men,” said Gaya whose bench outscored Ulinzi 25-6. But despite taking the best of five game series opener, Gaya wasn’t happy. Thunder were down in the first and second quarter.
“We won but I am not happy because we missed many free throws which should have given us a comfortable lead. We will take one game at a time and make advances,” he added.
Ulinzi had the game’s biggest lead at 13 when they went up 73-71 but Thunder came striking back, forcing five tries and five game changes. They were up for a total 30 minutes. “We started off well but totally lost concentration, losing the game in the last minute. But we will bounce back, ” noted the soldiers’ coach William Balozi. He vowed to win today’s match lest the series drifts away. “There is no two way about it. We are going all out to work on our mistakes.”
Thunder connected on 19 of their second chances as compared to their opponents 12 and scored 13 turn overs against the former champions eight.
