Most Valuable Player Jonah Otim and Makerere Basketball Team captain Tonny Drileba, were the stars of the match as Uganda beat Kenya in the Zuku Uganda Basketball League (ZUBL) All Stars game. Showing skillful dribbles and passing, the duo ensured that Uganda gets the edge, winning 73-55, in a match that was disrupted by persistent power outages especially before the start of men’s game at the Lugogo Indoor arena.
Indeed, despite the Kenyans exhibiting good dribbling skills they lacked the shooting accuracy, making MVP Otim latch onto that deficiency to ‘own’ the first quarter.
The incredible partnership of Otim and Drilega in the quarters was central to the eventual Uganda scorecard to the extent that when the two were substituted, the Kenyan team ball possession soared.
“I thank all my colleagues for the win,” Otim said and implored appreciated the organisers to schedule more such games, saying this would make university basketball in the country improve.
In the ladies game Uganda managed to snake past the Kenyans with a narrow margin, after the former beat the latter 71-70 in an exciting match characterized by a display of team spirit.
The Kenyans however, had themselves to blame for narrowly losing the game as stumbles in team coordination cost them the title.
“We fought for the win towards the end which was not good enough. This has though given us a chance to learn most important lessons,” said team captain Mercy Nyambura.
Having lost both titles, the Kenyan teams are set to go back to the drawing board, in preparation for the ZUBL next season.
The fans that came to watch the games got entertainment from one of the Ugandan musicians, Irene Ntale.
Various awards were given out after the match with UCU’s Vilma Achieng named MVP; Sylvia Nakazibwe of Makerere bagging Most Offensive Player, while the award for Most Defensive Player went to Purity Odhiambo of UCU.
In the men’s award, James Okello from Ndejje was named this season’s MVP, Most Offensive Player went to Sedar Segamba from St. Lawrence University, while Most Defensive Player went to Brian Namake.
