KPA finish fourth in Basketball League Africa (WBLA) Qualifiers

Al Ahly Sporting Club of Egypt are the new regional champions after defeating REG of Rwanda 93-68 in the final.

KPA had lost 96-76 against the Rwandans by 20 points in the Group B fixture last Monday.

The Dockers, who won the title last year after defeating REG of Rwanda in the final failed to impress this time.

They had earlier lost 104-63 to Al Ahly Sporting Club of Egypt in the semifinal on Friday hence failing to book their ticket to the December showpiece slated for Dakar, Senegal.

On their side APR had lost 77-82 to their fellow counterparts REG in the second semi-final on Friday hence REG and Al Ahly qualified for the WBLA Finals in December at the West Africa’s side.

It did not take long for APR to send a statement of intent as they raced to a 17-15 lead, humbling the reigning Zone Five champions who could not stop the Rwandans in transition and struggles to make use of their possessions.

The frustration on KPA's players was visible in the second quarter as they still trailed 12-22 going to break trailing 39-27.

APR maintained their momentum off the locker rooms, going on an 18-10 run in the third stanza to lead 57-37.

A 28-14 final quarter sealed the win for Mushumba's charges as there was no chance for a comeback for the Antony Ojukwu-coached Dockers.

APR’s trio Italee Lucas, Shaina Pellington and Kamaba Yoro Diakite masterminded the Rwandans win as they scored a combined 60 points as the rest scored 25 points.

New signing Alima Doumbia was the only KPA player to hit double digits after scoring 11 points.

Elsewhere, national women’s basketball defending champions Equity Hawks crashed JKL Lady of Uganda 59-56 to finish fifth while the Ugandans finished sixth in the classification match at the Amaan Indoor Arena, Tanzania on Saturday.

This was a dismissal performance for the bankers who finished third at the Zone Five championship last year in Kigali, Rwanda and finished sixth at the continental tourney in Egypt after landing a wild card to the AWBL.

JKL edged Equity 22-17 in the opening quarter before both sides shared the score line in the second period as they both scored 13 each with Uganda’s side going to halftime leading 35-30 against the Bankers.

Equity pulled away with a 15-04 victory in the second quarter before JKL showed an impressive display in the last quarter winning 17-14 but it was too late for the JKL ladies.

Gladiators of Burundi finished seventh after defeating home side Vijana Queens 79-65 as the latter finished eighth while Fox Divas of Tanzania finished ninth after hammering Ethiopia’s Hawassa City 79-50 who finished tenth. Another Burundi side Young Sisters finished 11th as the qualifiers came to an end on Saturday.

New signing Judith Edward Pantaleo and Maryann Nyagaki Wanjiku scored 30 points combined for the Bankers to propel them to victory.