The Morans, Kenya men’s basketball team, made history after beating African titans Angola 74-73 in a closely-fought clash in Yaoundé, Cameroon on Saturday night.
The emphatic triumph saw the Morans qualify for the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) AfroBasket 2021 tournament in Kigali, Rwanda.
Kenya’s national basketball team has never beaten Angola in the history of African basketball.
The Saturday win saw team coached by Liz Mills qualify for the Rwanda tournament for the first time in 28 years, their game against Mozambique slated for Sunday evening notwithstanding.
Tylor Ongwae. PHOTO/COURTESY FIBA
The determined Morans were beaten 22-9 during the first quarter but fought hard on a comeback of 19-17 in the second quarter, 25-17 in the third and 21-17 in the fourth quarter.
Tylor Ongwae, 29, stole the show for the Kenyan side to lead with 16 points with his power forward colleague Alexandre Jungo bagging 19 points for the national team.
Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) chairman Paul Otula has lauded the Government for offering the Morans the much-needed support to enable them make history in Yaoundé on Saturday.
The best Kenya has done to date is reaching the semi-finals in the FIBA Africa Championship 1993 under then captain Ronnie Owino and has never qualified for another championship.
Mills now goes down in history as the first woman to steer a men’s team to the championships.
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