Nairobi City Thunder have completed a historic three-peat in the KBF Men's Premier League, sweeping Kenya Ports Authority 3-0 in the best-of-five final series. The result extends Thunder's unbeaten domestic run and denies the Dockers the trophy for a third year in a row, with head coach Bradley Ibs now turning his focus to the Basketball Africa League.
The series was anything but routine. In game one at Makande Gymnasium in Mombasa, KPA led 59-56 with six seconds remaining before Eugene Adera's buzzer-beating three-pointer forced overtime, with Thunder going on to win 78-67. Game two followed a similar pattern as KPA surged ahead only to falter, allowing Thunder to take a 72-63 victory and a 2-0 series lead.
The decisive game three at the Kasarani Indoor Arena saw KPA open a 12-point gap and lead 27-18 after the first quarter and 35-29 at half-time. Thunder mounted a comeback through Garang Diing and Derrick Ogechi to seal a 74-70 win and complete the sweep. Captain Tylor Ongwae was named series Most Valuable Player after scoring 24 points in the clincher, with Ogechi (13), Adera (12) and Diing (11) providing support. Salimu Kisulu led KPA with 17 points, while Tobias Odhiambo and Brownlee added 13 and 12 respectively.
