Ulinzi Warriors beat Cobra Sports of South Sudan 53-47 to move to the Elite 16 of the Basket Africa League.
The soldiers, who lost 80-74 to New Stars of Burundi in their opening Group 'D' encounter, had to dig deep in the last half to win the game played at the Dar-es-salaam Indoor Arena. Two teams progressed to the November/December festival.
Ulinzi trailed 11-5 in the first quarter and 16-12 in the second but changed tact after intermission and the move paid dividends.
"Our defensive rotations, especially from the weak side, wasn't coming in quick enough. This made us concede easy baskets. They also got a lot of second chances," said assistant coach Ben Mufutu.
In the third quarter, Kenya punished the South Sudanese, pulling points for 18-9 cushion and another 18-11 surge in the deciding quarter.
Ulinzi had a good run recording eight unanswered points after the break to close in 25-29. They had four ties and four lead changes.
"We corrected our weak points and this saw us dominate the boards and get quick hitters on the offensive end," he said.
Byron Wasila was the only player who posted double figures for the Kenyans. He managed 18 points. Cobra Sport, who lost 46-68 to New Stars, had 14 from David Deng.
In the premier league matches played at Nyayo Stadium gymnasium, Equity Bank thrashed Emyba 69-47 while Strathmore University Blades nipped University of Nairobi 'Terrorists' 58-54 in a closely contested match.
Reigning women champions Equity Bank beat Kenyatta University Oryx 52-47 while Eldonets beat Umoja 58-42. Umoja then trounced Kisumu Lakeside 54-51 in the second match of the day.
