Kenyans bag bronze at Africa Zone 5 U18 tourneyKenyan boys and girls teams settled for bronze at the FIBA Africa Zone Five U18 championship after beating Tanzania teams at Lugogo Indoor Arena, Kampala.
The boys won 79-71 after sailing away 17-14 in the first quarter before both teams tied 25-25 in the second. A 29-15 burst in the third did the trick as the losers won the last one 17-8.
Kenya tossed in 10 three-pointers from Powell Owino and Ryan Otieno, who had 27 and 22 points respectively. Stanley Mitonguja buried 30 for the losers and Oswadiq Kea added 20.
The girls did enough to pip Tanzania 70-63. They led 48-36 at the break and survived a second half onslaught from Tanzania, who led 27-22.
This closely fought match saw seven lead changes and four ties with Kenya building the biggest advantage of only four points at 11-7.
Mariam Wangare hit 18 points, Violet Akinyi 13 and Valentine Korir 12 for Kenya. For the losers, Nawaza Lazaro shot 15, Pendo Laizer 14 and Elizabeth Lazier had 10 for the losers.
The Kenyans were on Thursday shut out of the finals after the boys went down 70-54 and the girls succumbed 71-45 to the Rwandese teams.The host teams secured slots to the Fiba Afrobasket after dominating the Rwandese in the finals. They won the boys' match 66-69 and the girls' final.
