Ding Garang star of the show as Nairobi City thunder past KPA

Kenya National Basketball League (KNBL) Men’s Premier League top seed Nairobi City Thunder improved their regular season record to 10-0 after beating reigning champions Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) 65-45 at Makande gymnasium in Mombasa on Saturday.

Despite being billed as the biggest matchup of the regular season, the revamped Thunder made light work of the dockers, outclassing them from tip-off, capped by a healthy 20-point margin at the final buzzer. 

Thunder were quickest off the blocks in the first quarter, making the most of their oomph and youthfulness to dominate every possession. 

Diing Garang, who is in the running for the Most Valuable Player (MVP) gong, and veteran Ariel Okal (former KPA) were instrumental in their early dominance, slashing to the paint defence and exchanging dunks as Thunder kept the foot on the peddle to win the first quarter 17-9. 

KPA came back stronger in the second quarter, cutting Thunder’s advantage to three points with a 20-17 scoreline with five minutes to go.

Thunder called a timeout to stop the bleeding and came back stronger following Garang’s re-introduction, helping them establish a 30-19 lead into halftime.

Thunder captain Griffin Ligare led from the front, hitting two back-to-back three-pointers to keep the dice rolling. They increased the pace of the game with swift ball movements that led to easy baskets. 

Garang Ding continued to be a thorn in the flesh of KPA, penetrating their defence, scoring, and facilitating as they opened their lead to 22 points. 

Tobias Odhiambo was KPA's shining light in a dull afternoon for the Dockers, who kept them in the game with back-to-back threes to reduce their deficit to 16 points by the end of the third quarter. 

In the fourth quarter, KPA came hard, slashing the lead to 11 points, with Job Byron and Tobias Odhiambo leading the KPA surge. 

However, veteran James Mwangi answered with quick two-pointers, with Okal hitting a dunk to dampen the spirits of the home team. 

Thunder new signing and immediate former KPA player, Ariel Okal, scored back-to-back 3 points to put the game to bed as they held out for a 65-45 at the final buzzer. 

Speaking to Citizen Digital after the game, the coach, Thunder Thomas Ibs, was very happy with the players performance. 

"The game was fantastic. We played within our system, were strategic, and ended up executing our plan well. 

“The difference in the game was guys not just settling for 3-point shots but going to the basket when the shots didn’t fall." Coach Thunder reiterate.

The man of the match, Garang Diing, showered all the praise on his coaches and the technical bench for the work they did in preparing them for the game. 

"It is always tough playing in Mombasa, but the coach has trained us well. We spent the last two days working on our game and our strategies for the game. 

Aerial Okal, who was coming back to Makande Gymnasium KPA, thanked the home fans for the warm welcome. 

"I had mixed emotions coming to KPA Makande as an opponent. I expected a negative vibe in the gymnasium from the home fans, but they received me well and positively. 

KPA wing Job Byron termed the result a wake-up call on what they needed to do to catch up with the high-flying thunder.

"They beat us. We are going back to the drawing board. Let’s wait for the second leg.

“We didn’t attack the basket as we are known for, and this was our main undoing. We will go back and work on our weaknesses; this was just our seventh game this season. "