BAL: Tripoli rolls over Nairobi City in Kigali

AlAhli Tripoli handed fellow Basketball Africa League debutants Nairobi City Thunder another heavy defeat at the BK Arena in Kigali on Sunday afternoon.

The Libyan side eased to a 115-87 win for their second victory in the Nile Conference and are odds-on to make next month’s BAL Playoffs.

Nairobi City missed the opening five shots of the game, four of which were from beyond the arc and turned over the ball three times, which Tripoli converted into 5 points and the Libyans took charge right away.

The lead hovered above five points in the opening ten minutes, but Thunder never fell far behind and kept within touching distance. And just over the halfway point of the second quarter, they came to within 2 points (37-39), forcing Tripoli into a timeout. On return, the Thunder went ice cold the rest of the period, and Tripoli went on a 12-1 run to close the half.

As was with their opening game, the Thunder did not take care of the ball well and by the end of the opening 20 minutes, they had coughed up the ball 10 times, leading to 15 points.

The third quarter was a continuation of the second for Tripoli. Their slow-tempo and patient offence generated wide-open 3-point shots, four of which connected, forcing Thunder, who were down 67-41, into a timeout. On return, it only got worse for the Kenyan side as Alahli’s lead ballooned to 30 points and another heavy defeat was on the horizon.

The fourth quarter was just a shooting exhibition, as neither side played defense, but launched a high volume of shots to produce 34 points apiece.

Jean Jacques Boissy continued to shine for Alahli off the bench, pouring in a game-high 30 points. Skipper Mohamed Sadi contributed 20 points while point guard Jaylen Adams controlled traffic so well, handing out 8 helpers to go with 26 points and 3 steals.

Meanwhile, Deon Thompson quietly had a near-perfect game in which he did a little bit of everything. The center scored 21 points, pulled down 14 rebounds, dished out 7 assists and swiped 3 steals.

In another performance that will require a lot of reflection from the Thunder, it was point guards Uchenna Iroegbu (18) and Eugene Adera (14), as well as skipper Tylor Ongwae (10), who reached double figures in scoring.

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