Garang Ding steers Nairobi City Thunder to East Division Elite 16 final victory
Nairobi City Thunder's Harouna Amadou dribbles past Uganda's City Oilers' Parrish Petty during the Africa Champions Clubs Road to Basketball Africa League 2025 Elite 16 East Africa Division qualifier at the Moi International Sports Centre, Gymnasium on December 2, 2024.
Garang Ding sank four of his five three-pointers to propel the Nairobi City Thunder to victory in the East Division Elite 16 final at the Moi International Sports Centre Indoor Arena on Tuesday night.
The 23-year-old combo guard from South Sudan collected 20 points as City Thunder struck Kriol Star from Cape Verde 99-86 to win and send their fans into celebrations.
Nevertheless, the two teams had already qualified for the 2025 African Basketball League (BAL) by reaching the final of the “Road to 2025 Ball” tournament.
City Thunder led all through the first quarter 27-22 and 57-41 at halftime time before stretching further to 80-57 in the third quarter.
Ding said theirs was to stick to the game plan, work through the sets and finish strong.
“We got the job done despite the tired legs,” said Ding, adding that his coach Bradly Ibs and teammates have always inspired and encouraged him even when he made bad shots at practice.
“It kept my confidence going and I was able to knock down the shots and I thank God for this victory,” said Ding.
“We compete with each other in training and complement each other,” he added.
Ding said it was amazing as a team to complete the second step with the Tanzania pre-qualifier being the first step.
“It’s motivating moving onto our third stage and we just need to keep going,” said Ding, who reckons that there is a lot to work on especially their defence and execution on attack before BAL.
“We are a running team and I am confident we shall be able to lock down teams at BAL,” he said.
Ibs said it was an amazing experience to have the event hosted in Kenya and for his team to be the first Kenyan club to qualify for BAL.
“Being able to go five all in front of our amazing fans, who kept showing up game after game, was also a humbling experience for the club and Kenyan basketball at large,” said Ibs.
The City Thunder and Kriol clash was a repeat of the group stage match where the Kenyan champions prevailed 104-71.
