Kenya Morans finish sixth at FIBA Afrocan in Angola

• The Morans lost to Tunisia in their final classification match
• They bowed out of the Cup after losing in the quarters
• It was a dip from 2019 when they reached the final

The Kenya Morans finished sixth at the 2023 FIBA Afrocan in Angola after losing 59-67 to Tunisia in their final classification match in Angola. The Morans had dropped down to the Classification matches after losing to Morocco in the semis, but couldn’t ensure a possible best finish at fifth with their final game defeat.

Head coach Cliff Owuor was disappointed with the performance of the team, and believed they would have done better.

“Generally, we turned over the ball a lot. At times we needed to keep our poise, we were in a hurry, we would make good runs, but we didn’t quite balance on when to set offence and let things run. That gave the opponents momentum to get back to the game, we just needed to mature up and know how to use the floor better,” the dejected tactician stated.

In the match, new boy Derrick Ogachi top scored for Kenya with 12 points, another impressive performance from the American-based player in his maiden national team appearance.

“It was a very tough game. We started well and played through Half Time really well. In the second half we struggled a bit especially when they went on the press. This is my first time playing in this tournament and everything was amazing. I am thankful for the experience,” Ogechi stated.

Debut for the Kenya Morans 

Kenya Morans debutant Derrick Ogechi. PHOTO/FIBA

Ogechi, 24, had been poised to make his debut for Kenya at the 2021 FIBA Afrobasket, but late clearance of paperwork meant he had to wait. He has starred in every single game for Kenya in Luanda. Ogechi averaged 13 points per game, having accumulated 65 points in the five games Kenya played. He also had 34 rebounds in the tournament.

Head coach Owuor praised his performance and says he is one to look out for in the future. “He is the youngest in the squad and definitely showed that he will be a huge player for the team,” Owuor said.

On Kenya’s failure to proceed to another final and book an automatic ticket for the next championship, the tactician was honest.

“Honestly, we ought to have done better. Getting knocked out in the quarter finals to me is like we have done bad. But we take it. We need to go back to the drawing board. We missed certain players and it hurt us,” the tactician stated.

Morans with good start against Tunisia 

Action between Kenya and Tunisia. PHOTO/FIBA

Against Tunisia in the fifth and sixth place play-off, the Morans had a good start and led 26-22 at halftime, having come from a 13-12 deficit in the first quarter to outscore the North Africans by five points in the second quarter.

But, they could not sustain the tempo as Tunisia outscored them by 12 in the third quarter, a score that made much of the difference.

The Morans had fallen out of Cup competition after losing 55-46 to eventual tournament champions Morocco in the quarter finals. They then faced Nigeria in the 5-8 classification match, winning by a slim one basket in a 61-59 victory.

Morocco won the tournament after edging out Ivory Coast 79-76 in a hotly contested final.