Opong drains game winner as MBB beat Nairobi City Thunder

Robinson Opong drained a game-winning corner 3-pointer as Made By Ball (MBB) edged Nairobi City Thunder 75-74 for their first victory in the Nile Conference of the Basketball Africa League.

It was a victory in which MBB had to overcome an 18-point third-quarter deficit to ignite the search for a playoff spot.

Pieter Prinsloo, Javon Mooring and Robinson Opong got MBB going early with outside shooting to open a double-digit lead quickly, but when the coach Sam Vincvent went to his bench, offense dried up a little with Thunder crawling back before a late couple of lay-ups gave the South African side a 22-15 lead at the end of the period.

The second period was not fluid to start as both sides toughened a little more on defence but Nairobi City never fell far behind, keeping within touching distance. A sequence of defensive stops down the stretch of the second quarter, coupled with good offensive possessions that saw Evans Ganapamo connect on back-to-back triples, had Thunder put their noses upfront, 33-32, at halftime.

The Thunder had early momentum in the third quarter with Ganapamo (21 points) heating up from 3-point land with a couple of treys that put his side in a 14-point (47-33) lead, forcing MBB into a timeout. On return, it was the Thunder that still ran the floor so well, stretching the lead to 18 with just under five minutes to play.

MBB, however, put together an 11-0 run powered by Prinsloo, who was unguardable throughout the game, to pull within 7 points but the Kenyan side restored the double-digit lead (60-50) heading into the final quarter.

It was back and forth early in the fourth quarter but MBB erased the deficit and took the lead (68-67) on Mooring’s pair of throws with just under four minutes to play. 

A 7-0 Thunder run spearheaded by Tylor Ongwage put then in a 72-68 lead with 2:16 to play.

Prinsloo bodied in Cheikh Mbacke Diong, forcing him to foul and the big man connected on both free throws. At the other end, Eugene Adera’s turnaround fade-away jumper restored Nairobi City’s 4-point  (74-70) lead with just over a minute to play. 

Prinsloo went to work again, skyhooking in a floater to pull MBB within 2 points (74-72) and the South Africans had a huge defensive possession on which they caught Thunder on the shot clock, forcing coach Bradley Thomas to call for time. 

On return, Mooring turned over but his side would again force  Nairobi City into another shot-clock violation with 10 seconds on the clock. From the inbound, Mooring attacked the back to collapse the defence and kicked out the corner to Opong, who found nothing but net for the winner.

Prinsloo poured in a game-high 30 points and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds to power MBB (1-2)  to victory. Lenard added 20 points while Mooring contributed 10.

Ongwae had 20 points for Thunder (0-3) whose hopes of making the playoffs were all but dashed.

The BAL continues on Thursday when Al Ahli takes on Nairobi City Thunder at 5 p.m. EAT and APR plays MBB at 7 p.m. EAT.

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