KPA off to bright start in 2023 BAL qualifiers

Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) started their campaign to qualify for the 2023 Basketball Africa League (BAL) 2023 on a strong note after defeating Djabal Basket Iconi of Comoros 120-37 in Antananarivo, Madagascar on Saturday.

The significant victory landed the dockers in the Elite 16 qualifying round of the premier competition after handing the islanders their second defeat in a three-team Group D.

Road to BAL 2023 is the qualification tournament for the third edition of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) where 19 teams will battle it out in the group phase in a bid to make it to the next round, also known as Elite 16.

During the opener match of Group D of the 2023 Road to BAL, Djabal suffered a setback after the hosts COSPN handed them a 110-58 defeat at the Palais des Sports Mahamasina City Arena on Friday.

KPA’s dependable power forward Okall Koranga proved his mettle after he delivered 24 points, four rebounds, and three assists to emerge the game’s top scorer, as US-born Wade Lowman contributed 23 points seven rebounds and one assist to keep the team flying.

And to solidify their dominance, Anthony Kidong’o sunk 19 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and three steals as Eugene Adera added 12 points and seven rebounds in KPAs victory.

Speaking to FIBA.basketball after the game, Koranga said, “Today, we must agree on the fact that we did not have a big enough opposition. But when we face COSPN, things will definitely be different. So we need to work on what did not go right for us.”

The national reigning champions are not new to this battle having debuted in 2019.

On Sunday, KPA have a tough battle against COSPON to determine the winner in the group.

The BAL is a joint competition organised by FIBA and the National Basketball Association.