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Basketball Africa League qualifiers: It’s make or break for Nairobi City Thunder against Ugandan club City Oilers

Nairobi City Thunder's Ken Wachira (right) battles for the ball with teammates Uche Ireogbe and Garang Diing against Bravehearts' Faad Billy (centre) during the Africa Champions Clubs Road to Basketball Africa League 2025 Elite 16 East Africa Division qualifiers at the Moi International Sports Centre, Gymnasium on 1 December 1, 2024. 

Ugandan club City Oilers stand between Nairobi City Thunder, and the ultimate prize of playing in Africa’s premier club basketball competition, the 2025 African Basketball League (BAL).

The Kenyan champions take on City Oilers in the first semi-final match of East Division qualifiers of the 2025 Basketball Africa League, from 8.30pm on Monday at the Moi International Sports Centre Indoor Arena in Nairobi.

Burundian club, Ururani, plays Cape Verde champions, Kriol Stars in the first semi-final match at the same venue from 6pm.

On Sunday evening, Nairobi City Thunder finished their Group ‘A’ matches unbeaten by dismissing Brave Hearts from Malawi 91-68 at MISC Indoor Arena.

Nairobi City Thunder’s deputy coach, Sadat Gaya, is thrilled at the prospect of playing in the semi-finals.

“It’s either we win, or go home! It’s one more hurdle which we have to jump before we can qualify for Basketball Africa League proper. We are under pressure, but we are prepared to deal with the situation,” Gaya told Nation Sport, adding that they expect a tough match from City Oilers.

“We shall review the video clips from the match between City Oilers and Urunani to have a sense of their game, but there are some things we already know that we can take advantage of in the Oilers side,” Gaya added.

 Cognisant of the tough task ahead, Gaya expects his players to step up their game, particularly in turnover situations that nearly cost them victory against the Brave Hearts at the group stage.

“We shall need to work on our execution of the game,” said Gaya, adding that his team will bank on the home fans for the final push.

Derrick Ogechi, who was City Thunder’s highest points scorer with 18 made up of four three-pointers, said the match against City Oilers means a lot, not only for his team, but also to the whole country.

“It’s every player’s dream to make it to BAL, and we are on the cusp of doing it. We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. This is our opportunity to shine, but we won’t underestimate City Oilers since they have qualified for BAL before,” said Ogechi.

City Thunder’s head coach, Bradley Ibs, warned his players against complacency when they play City Oilers, saying they can’t afford to be sluggish.

“We didn’t play at our best in the group stage against Brave Hearts, but we shall address that as we look for complete focus against City Oilers,” the American coach said.

Burundian club Ururani also finished their Pool ‘B’ matches unbeaten, but were made to dig deep before silencing City Oilers 78-75 in a pulsating game of two halves on Sunday night. Faad Billy scored four points for Brave Hearts in the match, which disoriented City Thunder, and the Ugandan side did not recover in the match. Urunani claimed the first quarter 20-13 and led 41-33 at the break.

Winners of the two semi-final matches will play in the final match of the qualifiers.

More importantly, winners of Monday’s semi-final matches will directly qualify for the 2025 Basketball Africa League.

Twelve teams will play in the 2025 BAL. The teams will be split into three conferences; Kalahari Conference, Nile Conference, and Sahara Conference.

Group stage matches in Kalahari Conference will be played from April 5 to 13 in Rabat, Morocco while those of Sahara Conference will be held from April 24 to May 6 in Dakar, Senegal. The Nile Conference will stage its group phase matches from May 17 to 25 in Kigali, Rwanda.