Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) will have themselves to blame after missing two crucial chances to edge out their recent rivals, Nairobi City Thunder, as the reigning champions staged comebacks to take a 2-0 series lead in the 2026 Kenya Basketball Federation League men’s finals.
In the best-of-five series, the Dockers hosted the opening two games of the finals at the Makande Gymnasium on Saturday and Sunday, but they could not take advantage of their home court and the massive support behind them.
Thunder, on Saturday, were on the brink of seeing their 87-game unbeaten run, stretching across three seasons, come to an end.
But somehow, and fortunately for them, they managed to rescue the game with just six seconds remaining on the clock.
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KPA, who had largely controlled the game, saw the victory slip right before their eyes despite Lennox Wanje sinking two free throws that gave them the lead.
The Dockers took a three-point lead with a minute remaining, holding a 59-56 advantage, and all they needed was to defend as the clock ticked down.
However, experience came into play and denied them the win. After Jason Kesang missed a dunk that would have sealed the victory, the ball was overturned and a timeout was called with ten seconds left by the Thunder bench.
And upon return Eugene Adera would make a restart just some distance away from the D who gave their experienced Tyler Ongwae who would pass back Adera on the left and he just shot a three pointer to beat the buzzer that did not just heartbreak the KPA fans but lifted thunder fans who forced a five minute overtime.
The KPA players were rattled by the setback and eventually let the game slip out off their hands, with Thunder staging a 76-67 win in Game One.
Nairobi City Thunder storm to 2-0 series lead
Staging Game Two at the same venue on Sunday, KPA needed to produce more than they had managed on Saturday, and for most of regulation time, they did just that.
However, things did not go their way in the first half. Although they managed to cut what had been a 14-point deficit to just four points heading into halftime, it was Thunder who remained in front.
KPA came out of the third quarter with renewed purpose and took the lead for the first time, narrowly edging ahead 52-51 and setting up a sensational final quarter.
And the fourth quarter delivered. six minutes into the period, the teams were locked at 60-60, but Thunder proved too strong down the stretch as Tyler Ongwae and Derrick Ogechi combined for nine points in the final three minutes, with Ongwae hitting one and Ogechi two three-pointers respectively.
Their late surge ensured KPA could not catch up, as Thunder secured a 73-63 victory.
With now the winless streak over Thunder extend to 11 matches KPA will travel for the game 3 on Friday October 2 as they will try to force at least game four and five at Nyayo Gymnasium a very tricky stage for them to beat the back to back defending champions.