Wednesday, August 9
Ladies
JKL Lady Dolphins 48-42 A1 Challenge
JKL Lady Dolphins emerged top of a highly contested affair with a 48-42 victory against A1 Challenge in the Ladies’ National Basketball League game played at the YMCA Outdoor Court in Wandegeya.
The 6pm encounter was delayed for almost an hour due to faults in the court’s floodlights as YMCA institute is undertaking a renovation, and the teams were forced to take a long break at a certain stage as the technicians worked against time to bring light on the court.
Muhayimina Namuwaya was the star as she contributed 11 points and 16 rebounds for the Lady dolphins in a low scoring game.
The Challengers who missed Christelle Jenne’s services had Stella Nikuze and Olivia Mulwana post 11 points each; in a game they died fighting.
How the battle went down
JKL who started on court with Lean Nalunkuma, Florence Nanyonga, Jamila Nansikombi, Hope Akello and Peace Nakirijja had a bright start to the game with Nalunkuma and Nakirijja scoring the first unbeaten 5 points as they edged the first quarter with a slender 14-13 lead.
JKL continued to be the better team on court as they scored more 10 points to take a 24-21 lead at halftime but Eddy Oumo’s Challengers remained focussed as they fought back to level the score by the end of the 3rd quarter with a tied score of 33-33.
Ruth Kirungi and Muhayimuna scored 2 pointers for A1 Challenge and JKL respectively as the scoreboards read 35-35 with 8 minutes to go in the last quarter.
Nansikombi converted her lay up inside the area to engineer the break-away and that was the vital turning point as the Dolphins never looked back to win a 6 point game.
The victory was their 7th this season as the team remained in 3rd place behind UCU lady Canons and table leaders KCCA Leopards. JKL have collected 16 points from their 9 games in first round.
That was A1 challenge’s second defeat they have suffered in a row following their slump against Nkumba on Sunday, and it was their 4th overall.