Last night in game three of the best of five NBL semi finals playoffs, the Canons took charge of the series (2-1) with a hard fought 65:58 victory over Betway Power. Canons offset a slow first quarter start to win the first quarter 13:12. Power’s Paul ‘Mcgyver’ Odong (game high 17 points on 6 of 11 shooting in 26 minutes) coming off the bench went off to some good shooting in the second quarter sending Power on a 10-0 scoring run that gave Power their biggest lead 25-15 in the second quarter. Canons then would grind through it with a Caesar Adoke three on the halftime buzzer bringing the Canons within 2 points, 30:28.
Power sought to put pressure on the Canons front court. The pressure yielded with the early foul trouble for Chuma Fadhili (10 points, 9 Rebs, 7 assists), Titus Lual (1 point & 9 Rebs) and David Kongor (12 points, 8 Rebs). David Kongor who’s been such a menace in this series thus far was limited to 15 minutes mostly because of his foul trouble. Chuma Fadhili eventually fouled out late in the fourth quarter.
Canons Head Coach Nicholas Natuhereza credits last night’s victory mostly to his bench though he believes with a 10 points cushion in the late fourth, they could have aimed for a smoother finish.
Rookie Jerry Kayanga came off the bench to put on the man-of-the-match performance with his team high 14 points , 3 Rebs and 2 steals in 24 minutes on the floor. Jerry’s work rate has been commendable in the last two games especially with his ability to keep his body in front of explosive Power guard Syrus Kiviiri (13 points, 6 Rebs, 4 Assists). In game 2, Jerry kept his body in front of Syrus forcing the turnover that secured the win for the Canons.
“I’m happy he could lift us tonight. Jerry is the hardest worker on the team. He puts in the most time at practice and he’s very disciplined off the court. I felt he gave us good minutes in the last game(game 2) so I trusted him more in this one. In fact I feel bad for him when he misses a shot because I know how much work he puts into it.” – Coach Nick.
With Titus Lual in early foul trouble, Peter Sifuma the rookie forward came off the bench for 12 points (on a 6 of 7 shooting) and 6 rebs in 19 minutes. But perhaps the Chief-Rookie-In-Charge was point guard Bbale Fayed (7 points, 4 Assists, 1 steal) who was the architect of the Canons offense. For close to 30 minutes on the floor, Power threw everything at him including double teams and switching on him but he still asserted his control on the game.
“I opted for Fayed because he is giving me better control. Caesar (Adoke) seems to just want to go and score for himself. Plus somewhere along the way we needed consistence so we kept him in.” Coach Nick said of Fayed’s extended minutes.
Cucu Brian asked a visibly sore Fayed what it was like being guarded by tough defenders like Syrus and Opolot David, he said;
“Man, It’s crazy. They’re constantly bumping me and a lot of the contact can not even be seen by the refs so they don’t call it. I have to stay focused and avoid them getting into my head. I think I also need to shoot better in pick and roll situations”
Power trailed by 7 points going into the fourth quarter, 47:40 and they had all the chances to run away with it in fourth but they’ll regret their scoring inefficiency in the field and on the free throw line. Power made only 15 of 28 on the charity line, compare with Canons’ 14 of 23. For Power to get back in this series, they simply need to stop being wasteful. They need to bury much of the open looks they are getting.
Soro Geoffrey finished with 12 points and 9 rebs but what’s disturbing is how wasteful he was, going only 4 of 21 in the field and making only 4 of 9 free throws. Syrus Kiviiri was 4 of 16 in the field while Makala Libe went 1 of 10 to finish with 7 points.
Power’s Odong Paul had the game high 17 points in game 3. Photo: Stone/FUBA
Two things that should happen for Power to come back in this series and they’re a no-brainer. Firstly, Joseph Ikong needs to stop having bad days in office – last night being even worse when he finished with 0pts and 2 rebs. Ikong finished with 3pts in Power’s game two loss – I don’t know what that is if it’s not an open indicator. Lastly, Power has to emphasize efficiency or simply get their best guys to shoot the ball. 4/21 , 4/16 and 1/10 is rather wasteful and no way to win ball games. Veteran Forward Phillip Ameny should also be worth a lot more than 2 pts considering the match ups.
Game four will be played Thursday, November -21 at Lugogo Arena.
brian@basketball256.net | Twitter: @Cucubrian
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