Power sink Warriors to win FUBA title

By Charles Mutebi

FUBA Men’s division 1 Finals

Power  99   Warriors  97

(Power win title 4-3)

History will say Power won the 2011 FUBA men’s championship.

But Power did not just win the championship, like a boy wins a girl’s heart. No, Power toiled and scrapped for their crown, throwing everything they had at the Kyambogo Warriors in a dramatic best-of-seven series that went down to the last possession.

Isaac Afidra grabbed a game-high 29 points and 15 rebounds and Ben Komakech added 27 points and 13 rebounds to lead Power to a pulsating 99-97 win over the Warriors in Game 7 of the men’s top flight finals, played Friday at YMCA.

Power had never defended any of their four championships and the Warriors seemed destined to extend that record, with Steven Okias dropping a team-high 28 points and Henry Malinga supplying 16 points and 19 rebounds before fouling out with 2:29 to play in the fourth period.

Kyambogo led 76-65 at the start of the last quarter and were up 89-77 with five minutes left. Surely they had done enough. Power disagreed.

“The last four minutes are very important to Power because we step up defensively and deliver offensively,” revealed man-of-the-match Afidra.

“Power refused to quit and when they came close, they put the pressure on us,” Warriors coach Mande Juruni said post-match. 

The pressure told as Kyambogo missed six of eight free throws in the last two minutes, 14 of 30 through out. Power missed twenty free throws in the match but they scored the two that mattered most. With two seconds to play and the game tired at 97-97, Komakech was fouled in his half, going to the line.

Like Kyambogo feared, Komakech made both, putting power up for good. 

“I don’t know why (Ronnie) Kasewu fouled me, I think he thought there was more time on the clock,” Komakech said later.

Michael Kojo grabbed 15 points and 17 rebounds for Power while Eric Malinga scored 12 for Kyambogo and Ivan Enabu, who played with a debilitating groin injury, made 10. Eric could have sent the game to overtime but his buzzer-beating shot was blocked by Isaac Luggudde, sending Power into ecstasy.