Kenya National Men’s Basketball Team (Morans) Makes History

The Kenya Morans have never reached anywhere, not even the quarter finals of the Africa Basketball Men’s Championship in any FIBA AfroCan Tournament. The competition which kicked off on 19th July and expected to end on 28th July in Bamako Mali saw 12 countries entering the competition. The Kenya Morans who have never registered good performance outside the country showed that they are no longer underdogs in the competition as they knocked out Ivory Coast in the round of sixteen and Tunisia in the quarters.

On Wednesday the Kenya Morans overturned the results on Tunisia to secure a victory of 82-76 against the North African Men. Tunisia had won the first two quarters beating Kenya 19-20 in the first quarter and 14-16 in the second quarter. However this did not lower the Morans hopes as they bounced back to edge Tunisia 20-10 in the third quarter. Tom Wamukota bagged 10 points in the third quarter making him the man of the night. The North African Men again were able to secure an overtime play after edging the Morans 22-15 where Morans won the sudden death round with splendid performance by Kenya’s Tyler Okari giving Morans a 82-76 win over Tunisia. Moran’s Griffin Ligare also had a great night as he bagged 7 points during the extra time period.

The Kenya Morans had secured a semi-final spot with Morocco another history in the making which took place yesterday. They managed to thrash Morocco 96-66 points cruising to the finals of the FIBA AfroCan Tournament for the first time ever. No one imagined that the team could be able to reach even the quarter finals and here they are in the finals. The Morans will on Sunday face the winner between Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola for the finals.

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The most saddening thing is that our players usually put a lot of hard work and sacrifice while playing for the country but the country doesn’t recognize their efforts. How do you expect these players to be motivated if the government itself doesn’t offer adequate support to them? Malkia Strikers came from the Africa Women Volleyball Championships in Cameroon even if they managed to secure position number two they deserved some acknowledgment and support from the government. But the government will always be the government just looking out for its own stomach.

Thank you Kenya Morans for your service to the country and as you prepare for the finals I wish you success. Give it your all and remember light will always shine in the darkness.

Adrian Opiyo

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