Nairobi City Thunder have their work cut out when they face off with South Africa’s Made By Ball (MBB) in their third match of the 2025 Basketball Africa League (BAL) Nile Conference at the BK Arena in Kigali Rwanda.
The Kenyans, who had a false start to the competition losing their first two encounters, must beat MBB to revive their hopes of qualifying for the BAL play-offs.
While victory against the South Africans will keep their BAL dream alive, a slight blunder will reduce their chances of making the last eight that will remain in the race for the title.
In his post-match interview after their shocking 87-115 loss to Libya’s Al Ahli Tripoli, Thunder head coach Bradley Ibs admitted that his charges must up their game.
“Obviously as you have seen over the two days, our consistency hasn’t been where we would like it to be. We just have to be consistent, play every possession to our Thunder standards and hope that will help to turn things around,” Ibs said.
Though going into today’s match, Thunder seem to be the better side on paper based on their previous encounter in the Road to BAL Elite 16 East Division, they must be at their best because the Nile Conference is a whole new ball game.
Thunder thrashed MBB 102-59 last year but that now counts for nothing because their opponents will go all out in a bid to secure a place in the play-offs which they will host at the SunBet Arena, Pretoria.
It’s a high stakes match for MBB because they have everything to lose should the outcome be in favour of Thunder.
They will be motivated by the fact that they just don’t want to be mere spectators but partakers of the prestigious BAL banquet which they will host.
The Kenyan champions, who began their campaign with 63-92 defeat to homeboys APR Rwanda, will have to improve in both offence and defence and be consistent throughout the duel.
Elizabeth Mburugu
| May 20, 2025