Fresh recruits add weight to Ulinzi Warriors’ title push

Ulinzi Warriors will be hoping their newly recruited players from the club’s junior team will add them the necessary power that will see them reclaim the Kenya Basketball Federation men’s Premier League title they lost to Kenya Ports Authority in 2019.

Optimistic sounding Ulinzi team manager Stephen Bartilol praised the new recruits saying they were up to the task of fighting for a championships after the soldiers defeated Blades 53-40 in their season opener on Friday evening at Nyayo Stadium.

The fresh faces in the KDF senior outfit are international Brian Nzioka, Reagan Okere and Elvis Akoi.

“Blades proved a strong team and beating the varsity students by 13 points is an indicator that our strategy of injecting new blood in the squad is working"said Bartilol.

Ulinzi Warriors did beat Blades home and away in their encounters last season.

Nzioka, who was in Kenya’s 3x3 Fiba Under-23 team that qualified for the World Cup in Poland, pulled down seven defensive and one offensive rebound as Ulinzi Warriors raced to a 17-12 first quarter lead.

The soldiers, who finished in fourth last season, a poor performance by their high standards,  scored 14 points from turnovers to go 31-21 up at the break and they never looked up.

International Elisha Odhiambo scored a game-high 20 points with team-mates Stephen Simiyu and David Ouma managing seven and six points respectively.