ANU coach Oluoch takes pride in 'Campus Derby' win, rallies charges to improve on free throws

Despite narrowly winning the ‘Campus Derby’ clash against University of Nairobi's Dynamites, Africa Nazarene University head coach Michael Oluoch has called on his team to improve on free throws.

Panthers narrowly beat Dynamites 66-64 on Sunday at Nyayo Gymnasium in the women's basketball league.

ANU lost many opportunities to widen the gap in the fourth quarter, forcing the game to be decided in the last second of the game. They were leading 63-61 with four seconds to go, when Faith Atieno scored a three-pointer for Dynamites, reversing the score line to 64-63.

However, with s second to go, Ann Nyakio received the ball and without blinking an eye shot  from the centre of the field, giving Panthers  the much needed win, her three-pointer shoot taking the game to 66-64 to the final buzzer and sending the crowd into a frenzy.

“It was a tight game; they pushed us to the wire. We had a lot of lapses, we were missing a lot of free throws but the last shot really saved us. We need to work on our defense but my girls really worked for the win and they deserve it,” Oluoch said.

On his part, Dynamites head coach Juma Kent took issue with the officiating.

“It was a good match but officiating was pathetic not because I lost, it can’t happen that a player can get a ball, dribble and shoot a three-pointer within one second,” he lamented, adding that, “ANU played well, they came to the game knowing what they wanted. We shall work now for the remaining two games in the first leg,” Kent said.

The win took Panthers to position six with 15 points after 10 matches, winning five and losing an equal number while Dynamites are at position four with 16 points, having won seven matches and lost two.

Weekend Results

Nairobi- Nyayo Gymnasium

ANU Panthers 66-64 UON Dynamites –WP

Equity Hawks 95-37 Kisumu Lady Bucks –WP

Strathmore Swords 63-26 Kisumu Lady Bucks- WP

KU Pirates 74-61 ANU Wolfpacks- MP