Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) will need to be accurate with their shots if they are to dethrone Equity Bank as Kenyan champions.
Coach Mike Opel said shooting, rebounding and defensive plays must improve when the team arrives in Nairobi for the crucial games.
The porters take on the champions in Game Three and Four and if possible, Five at the Nyayo Stadium beginning tomorrow.
After a Game One slip in Mombasa, KPA battled hard to post a 56-50 victory in Game Two, which saw them lock the best of five game series at 1-1.
“My shooters are not doing well. When we are faced with a team playing zone-game, we need to shoot well. Unfortunately, this is what we are not doing,” said Opel. “We did well to tie the series but there are lapses that we will need to work on before the next matches.”
But his counterpart David Maina heaped praise on his girls saying they have had a good account of themselves.
“Many did not give us a chance without the injured (Betty) Kananu, but we did well to win in Mombasa and now have the rest of the matches in Nairobi. We showed a lot of team spirit,” said Maina. “Unfortunately, we lost Game Two due to fatigue after using a lot of energy in the opening match.”
KPA got off to a 12-5 first quarter edge and were up 24-23 at the break. But Equity took the third 18-16 before collapsing 16-9 in the last.
Equity had done well to win Game One 59-63 at the same venue the previous day. The Hawks led 35-22 at half time and didn’t look back.
Annerose Mandela made 15 points, Belinda Okoth tallied 12 and Mjomba added 11 for Equity Bank.
KPA had 15 from Hilda Indasi, 14 from Taudencia Katumbe and 11 from Natalie Akinyi.
In the third/fourth classification game in Nairobi, Storms beat University of Nairobi Dynamites 46-44. Ulinzi Warriors reclaimed their national crown with a 3-1 series win over Thunder. Forward Byron Mabonga came off the bench late to score the winning basket for a 67-63 victory.
