Tom Wamukota scored 20 points in the final and was named the most valuable player as Nairobi Morans beat Kampala Red Stars 71-49 to clinch the inaugural Africa City Challenge title on Friday night.
He was the most fielded player in the Kenyan team for 33:16 and finished with 15 rebounds, three assists and two steals.
“It was really tough playing many games in a week back-to-back but we came through at the crucial time and delivered,” Wamukota said.
Steve Omony top-scored for Kampala with 10 points, grabbed five rebounds and was named the tournament's top scorer.
Ariel Okal of Mogadishu City won the best defensive player award.
The final game was less competitive than the group game both teams played earlier in the week. Nairobi was completely dominant leading for 38:20 while Kampala never led in the entire game.
Nairobi won the first quarter 20-11 and took a 3-0 lead from Wamukota’s three free shots. Omony buried a three-pointer to tie scores before Khaemba Situma made it 5-3 for Nairobi.
Victor Odendo made three three-pointers as Nairobi opened up a 12-point lead of 15-3 in the quarter.
In the second quarter, Nairobi won 15-14 to lead 35-25 at halftime. They led by 15 points in the quarter at 31-16.
With less than three minutes played in the third quarter, Nairobi had stretched their lead to 20 points at 45-25. Odendo made a three-pointer and a basket plus a basket each from Griffin Ligare and Job Byron.
Ligare sustained a cut
Ligare was later withdrawn in the quarter after sustaining a cut on his face following a collision with an opponent. By the time he left, Ligare had scored 14 points and played for 25:47 minutes.
The lead soared to 27 points at the close of the quarter at 60-33 and Nairobi won 25-8. In the fourth quarter, Kampala won 16-11.
Mogadishu finished third after beating Mombasa City Sharks 92-76.
Mombasa won the first quarter 21-7 as Zadock Odhiambo fired three three-pointers and a fourth one from Solomon Aswani to steady their run.
In the second quarter, the scores tied 24-24 with 3:38 to play. Hamad Abdi scored the all-important three-pointer before adding two free shots as Mogadishu led 26-24 for the first time in the game.
They led by 11 points at halftime 43-32 and won the quarter 36-11.
Mogadishu were slowly becoming dominant and opened the lead to 23 points in the third quarter at 64-41 and won 26-22. With three minutes of the fourth quarter played,
Mombasa had narrowed the gap to nine points at 71-62 but Mogadishu shot up again to 20 points leading 86-66 to win the quarter 23-22.
Adnan Gulled and Hanad Abdi scored 17 points each to top score for Mogadishu. Okal finished with 16 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals with Mustafa Ali scoring 16 as well.
Zadock Odhiambo made five three-pointers to top score for Mombasa with 23 points while Samuel Ocholla added 18 points with 15 rebounds to his name.
