Mwanza big guns meet in basketball finals

Dar es Salaam. Mwanza’s basketball giants, Bugando Planet, have their eyes focused on lifting the trophy as they take on Bugando Warriors in the first game of the Mwanza Family League’s final at the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) Club’s court today.

 

Mwanza Basketball Family, which comprises basketball stakeholders aiming at reviving the game in the region, has organized the league. The final will be played in the best of five games forrmat.

Planet’s playmaker, Shomary Almasi, told The Citizen on Sunday the squad has prepared well for the match and is keen on putting solid performance with a view to coming out with a resounding win.

“We have trained intensively for the final and are keen on going all the way and win the trophy. A one-week rest that we had after the semi-finals has also put us in an advantageous position”, he said.

“Planet is currently in great form and that is substantiated by the convincing 3-1 victory the team had over Bugando Heat in the best of five games’ semi-final play offs”, he added.

Planet, which boasts a host of experienced players, commanded a 60-55 victory over Heat in the fourth game of the semi-final play offs a fortnight ago to seal the 3-1 win and cruise to the final.

Heat, the champions of the inaugural league held in the 2012/13 season, were consequently dethroned by their street rivals. Warriors, in contrast, were forced to dig deep and edge Butimba Spiders in the other semi-final play off, which saw the two sides play all five games. In the deciding match, played at the Saint Augustine University of Tanzania (SAUT) court earlier this week, Warriors beat Spiders 96-87.

Almasi also expressed admiration in competitiveness in the league, saying a series of closely contested matches justified the rise in the level of performance of the participating teams.

Other teams that participated in the league, whose round robin stage started on October 13, last year and ended on November 24, were Dolphin, Eagles, SAUT and St. Francis.