Africa-Press – Kenya. Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) have qualified for the Basketball Africa League Elite 16 slated for Cape town, South Africa next month.
The porters went down 66-60 to home team Club Omnisports de la Police National in the Group D match played at the Palais des Sports, Antananarivo, Madagascar.
They earned their tickets for the November 22-27 show by finishing in the top two. They will be joined by the top two from Group C that tips off this week.
The two sides earned their tickets by thrashing Djabal of Comoros. KPA hit them 120-37 while COSPN also whipped the Comoros side 110-58. Last-minute withdrawals by two teams—Foxes from Zimbabwe and Dekkeda from Somalia made it a three-team affair.
The top two teams will now represent this East Division group in the next phase of the tournament that is slated to be held in South Africa. Teams that have already qualified are, Ferroviario da Beira (Mozambique), Cape Town Tigers (South Africa) and Cobra Sports (South Sudan).
KPA led 32-24 at the break but the winners urged on by their rooting fans, took over the proceedings in the last half to carry the day. Ken Wachira led the KPA scoring tally with 13 points while Martin Kitongo added 10. The winners were led by Orlando Rahajanariana who shot 10.
Meanwhile, KPA captain and playmaker Natalie Akinyi is the reason behind the porters’ smooth sailing in the Kenya National Basketball Federation (KNBL) League, where they are perched on top.
The player, dubbed the engine of the team by her coach Anthony Ojukwu, has kept driving the team with energy even when nothing seems to be working.
KPA are the only team with an unbeaten run in this category. They have 20 points from 10 games with their latest league win coming against Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) at their Makande Welfare Hall in Mombasa.
They have already played and beaten their two close rivals Equity Bank of Kenya and Zetech University Sparks in the race for this year’s title.
In her team’s latest international exploit during the Fiba Africa Zone Five Club Women Championship, Natalie was called upon to deliver a statement in the semifinals and she didn’t disappoint.
In a trademark show, Natalie who was not even meant to play was called upon late. She put on a virtuoso show in a closely knit 49-45 win over APR in the semifinals where she delivered 17 points and seven assists against the Rwandese side.
That performance saw KPA through to the regional finals where they went down 78-67 to a tough Alexandria Sporting Club side from Egypt. Despite the loss, they booked their Africa Women club Championship ticket.
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