NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 2 – University of Nairobi Dynamites basketball team captain Gacheri Mwenda believes their high intensity approach to their match against Kenyatta University Oryx was key to their 56-25 win over the weekend.
The Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) league tie was held at the newly-constructed Ulinzi Sports Complex in Langata and Mwenda believes a win was the perfect welcome on the brand-new court.
“We played very well…we started at a high intensity and finished the game in the same way. However, there were a few hiccups but we sorted them out. We discovered that they do not have bigger post players compared to us and so we used our players to our advantage. We also made use of our speed as well as our defence to run them off the court,” she said.
The Ulinzi Sports Complex was opened in April this year by President Uhuru Kenyatta and the skipper predicted they would enjoy playing in it as the pitch continues to host more KBF matches.
“It is cooler than Nyayo Stadium and the court is quite good so we look forward to playing more matches here. Basically, the intention is to win our future games and to win the league,” she said.
Following their win, the Juma Kent-coached side climbed up to third in the league standings, five points behind leaders Kenya Ports Authority who boast 14 points.
Meanwhile, Oryx skipper Cynthia Kavila admitted they began on the wrong foot and failed to recover for the rest of the match.
“The game was very tough; we tried our best but unfortunately, we lost. We started off badly, failing to score in the first quarter and we couldn’t recover. We will go back and work on these weak areas and come back a better side,” she said.
Kavila, however, noted that the team is full of potential.
“The thing about basketball – especially as a lady – is to work hard. If you have the potential and are willing to put in the effort, then it will all bear fruit. We are going to work…work…work and come back better,” she said.
