{"id":121565,"date":"2026-04-06T12:14:32","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T12:14:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/nairobi-city-thunder-end-tigers-conference-unbeaten-run"},"modified":"2026-04-06T12:50:44","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T12:50:44","slug":"nairobi-city-thunder-end-tigers-conference-unbeaten-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/nairobi-city-thunder-end-tigers-conference-unbeaten-run","title":{"rendered":"Nairobi City Thunder end Tigers\u2019 conference unbeaten run"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>Kenyan side Nairobi City Thunder (NCT) ended their 2026 Basketball Africa League (BAL) campaign on a high note, defeating previously unbeaten Rwanda\u2019s RSSB Tigers 101\u201392 at SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa, on Sunday, April 5.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the loss, the Tigers still finished top of the Kalahari Conference, having already secured qualification for the playoffs.<\/p>\n<p>Head coach Henry Mwinuka rotated his squad for the game, resting his key players Craig Randall and Ntore Habimana.<\/p>\n<p>For Thunder, who had been eliminated from playoff contention a day earlier, the victory was a statement performance. The Kenyan champions bowed out with a respectable 2\u20133 record, proudly becoming the only team to defeat the Tigers during the conference phase.<\/p>\n<p>BAL debutant Dennis Ogechi starred for the second consecutive game, leading Thunder with 22 points. His performance helped guide Bradley Ibs\u2019 side to their highest-scoring outing of the tournament.<\/p>\n<p>Thunder\u2019s hopes of reaching a maiden BAL Finals appearance were dashed on Saturday after Tanzanian side Dar City claimed the final playoff spot. Both teams finished with identical 2\u20133 records, but Dar City advanced on a head-to-head advantage following their 90\u201385 win over Thunder.<\/p>\n<p>Motivated to end their campaign strongly, Thunder delivered an impressive offensive display, surpassing the 100-point mark for the first time in the conference while dominating large stretches of the game.<\/p>\n<p>Playing without injured guard Albert Odero, Thunder made a blistering start, opening up a 38\u201324 lead in the first quarter and extending it to 25 points midway through the second. However, the Tigers responded with a 12\u20132 run to reduce the deficit to 13 points at halftime.<\/p>\n<p>Thunder regained control in the third quarter, with captain Tyler Ongwae and Ogechi hitting key three-pointers to stretch the lead back to 19 points before closing the period with a 14-point cushion.<\/p>\n<p>The Tigers mounted a late push in the fourth quarter, cutting the gap to single digits with six minutes remaining. But a decisive 6\u20130 run from Ogechi and Garang Diing restored Thunder\u2019s control, as they held on comfortably to seal the 101\u201392 win.<\/p>\n<p>Diing finished with 14 points, including Thunder\u2019s 100th point from the free-throw line. He was joined in double figures by Joseph Nzeakor (21 points), Ongwae (17), and Lance Thomas (14), as five Thunder players reached double digits.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the defeat, RSSB Tigers\u2019 top-place finish in the Kalahari Conference means they will face the fourth-placed team from the Sahara Conference in the playoffs\u2014potentially offering a favorable path as they aim for a deep run in Kigali.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Rwanda<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Rwanda. Kenyan side Nairobi City Thunder (NCT) ended their 2026 Basketball Africa League (BAL) campaign on a high note, defeating previously unbeaten Rwanda\u2019s RSSB Tigers 101\u201392 at SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa, on Sunday, April 5. Despite the loss, the Tigers still finished top of the Kalahari Conference, having already secured qualification [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":121564,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,18],"tags":[3502,3354,3347,5348,3711,9404,758,9575],"class_list":["post-121565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-bal","tag-bal-playoffs","tag-ferwaba","tag-kalahari-conference","tag-nba-africa","tag-rssb-tigers","tag-rwanda","tag-rwandan-team"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Nairobi City Thunder end Tigers\u2019 conference unbeaten run - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Kenyan side Nairobi City Thunder (NCT) ended their 2026 Basketball Africa League (BAL) campaign on a high note, defeatin ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/nairobi-city-thunder-end-tigers-conference-unbeaten-run\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nairobi City Thunder end Tigers\u2019 conference unbeaten run\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kenyan side Nairobi City Thunder (NCT) ended their 2026 Basketball Africa League (BAL) campaign on a high note, defeatin ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/nairobi-city-thunder-end-tigers-conference-unbeaten-run\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-06T12:14:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-06T12:50:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/04\/sm_1775467199.731064.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"520\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/nairobi-city-thunder-end-tigers-conference-unbeaten-run#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/nairobi-city-thunder-end-tigers-conference-unbeaten-run\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Nairobi City Thunder end Tigers\u2019 conference unbeaten run\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-06T12:14:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-06T12:50:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/nairobi-city-thunder-end-tigers-conference-unbeaten-run\"},\"wordCount\":422,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/nairobi-city-thunder-end-tigers-conference-unbeaten-run#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/04\/sm_1775467199.731064.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"BAL\",\"BAL Playoffs\",\"Ferwaba\",\"Kalahari Conference\",\"NBA Africa\",\"RSSB Tigers\",\"Rwanda\",\"RWANDAN TEAM\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/nairobi-city-thunder-end-tigers-conference-unbeaten-run#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/nairobi-city-thunder-end-tigers-conference-unbeaten-run\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/nairobi-city-thunder-end-tigers-conference-unbeaten-run\",\"name\":\"Nairobi City Thunder end Tigers\u2019 conference unbeaten run - 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