Angels wake up a little too late

By Charles Mutebi

Walker Obedi may not have mastered his temper but the young Ndejje Angels’ coach is steadily mastering his craft.

Obedi lost his cool with the refereeing and threatened to walk his team off the court during their exciting encounter with D’Mark Power on Sunday. Thankfully, his extreme histrionics failed to overshadow his team’s impressive show against the men’s champions even if they eventually lost 76-69.

Joseph Ikong drained a game-high 17 points, Isaac Lugudde 16, Ben Komakech 11 and Jimmy Enabu 10 to help Power survive the inspired Angels, who are increasingly rising above mid-table status.

Geoffrey Soro again led Ndejje with 17 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

Trailing 30-23 at halftime, Ndejje lost control in the third quarter and Obedi lost his temper. When Power incredibly got away with a blatant double-dribble violation midway through the period, Obedi run onto the court, pursuing the officials and threatening to walk out on the game.

Ndejje players responded by out-scoring Power 24-17 in the final quarter but it was too little too late.

“It’s useless to play the game if there is no fairness,” Obedi said post-match. “Most officials think the big teams should not lose.”