KIU stun Power, go third
Jun 12, 2012
After defeating their closest rivals-Warriors, it was anticipated that Power would go unbeaten in the first round of the Airtel National Basketball League.
By Usher Komugisha
Airtel National Basketball League
Division One
KIU Titans 71 Power 67
Stormers 48 Falcons 89
Division Two
Bushcourt 51 K’la University 46
MBC Rocks 47 Sharing Youth 50
Division Three
Ssaku 74 Emperors 72
TLC 20 Ssaku 0
Planets 37 Phenoms 45
Crane High 37 St. Michael 50
Women
Leopards 54 KIU Rangers 42
CH Makerere 62 Cubs 25
After defeating their closest rivals-Warriors, it was anticipated that Power would go unbeaten in the first round of the Airtel National Basketball League.
But little did they know that the KIU Titans had something up their sleeves.
The Titans handed the league reigning champions Power their first defeat this season 71-67 on a tense Sunday evening at the YMCA Ground in front of an expectant crowd.
Power outscored the Titans 25-14 in the first quarter but a great comeback by the university side in the second and third quarter saw them limit Power to just nine and seven points in the second and third quarter respectively.
Meanwhile, during those two quarters KIU dropped 18 and 17 points respectively to dominate this game and silence a frustrated and desperate Power side.
“We really had a bad day but we shall correct those mistakes,” explained Power’s shooting guard, Jimmy Enabu who managed only four points and three rebounds.
Titans’ new recruits Salim Ali and Michael Makiadi from Heaters dropped 17 and 12 points respectively to inspire their side to their seventh victory this season having lost to only the Ndejje Angels earlier. Brian Wati also added 11 points for KIU.
This moves the Titans in the third position with 15 points, four behind Warriors and two behind Power who have played two and one more game in that order. Falcons now moves to fourth with 14 points.
“We shall not get excited over this win because we want to take a game at a time. We have always had a terrible first round in the past years but this time round we are on track,” pointed out KIU coach Nimrod Kaboha.