BY DANN O'WERRE
Victor Bosire was unstoppable as champions Ulinzi Warriors gunned dowm Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) 68-66 in a play-off finals Game One played at the Makande Welfare Hall, Mombasa on Saturday.
The playmaker hit a game high 32 points as Ulinzi pushed KPA to the wall in the dying minutes to take a 1-0 edge in the best-of-five series.
"Play-off finals is a job and I must take the team's scoring responsibilities in my hands, " said a beaming Bosire.
"We didn't have Eric Mutoro and Ancette Wafula today so I knew I had to step up. They will be available tomorrow and my job will be to distribute."
The Porters were in control of proceedings and were a few seconds away from a crucial win before a costly collapse.
"We lost in the last seconds by two points. Last gasp turn-overs did us in, " said KPA coach Sammy Kiki.
The opening quarter saw Porters' Lennox Wanje and the Warriors Tiberius Menya get their acts early with quick points.
The duo had five and six points respectively in the opening ten minutes as the two giants remained deadlocked 15-15 at the end of the first quarter.
KPA, urged on by their fans, pushed harder in the second quarter with Wanje and Ken Wachira leading the way with three-pointers.
But the never-say-die soldiers returned fire with fire, clawing back with a three-pointer from Menya before Bosire burried two more.
Two baskets by John Winjas and Frank Omondi was followed by a free shot by Wanje as KPA took a 34-28 advantage at the break.
Ulinzi continued to push and were down by only a basket as the third quarter ended 54-52 in favour of KPA, who hanged on 66-62 with two minutes left.
But a furious soldiers' rally paid off with on-fire Bosire, a former KPA star player and a constant menace, tossing in six late points.
David Ouma chipped in with 11 points while KPA had 19 from Wachira, 17 from Wanje and 13 from Winjas.
Ulinzi tactician William Balozi said: "This was a crucial win considering that I missed three key players. It was a morale booster."
"We are going out to finish the job tomorrow so that we make it easier when we return to Nairobi for the rest of the series."
Game Two is tomorrow at the same venue with three more games, if necessary, slated for Nyayo Stadium gymnasium.
