Taylor Ongwae (left) of Kenya Morans in action against Angola during the ongoing 2025 Afrobasket qualifiers in Tunisia. [FIBA]
Kenya Morans are out of the 2025 Afrobasket.
Morans' hopes of making it to the continental basketball premier showpiece died on Saturday when they lost their fifth game of the Group E qualifiers currently going on in Tunisia.
Despite taking an encouraging 25-21 first quarter lead against the South African nation, Kenya could not withstand the second and third quarter storms from Angola who outplayed Morans 29-10 and 15-15 to emerge winners.
A big 23-9 fourth quarter dominance killed off the East Africans who lost 88-59.
Fidel Okoth finished the game with 13 points and three rebounds and two steals to emerge Kenya’s best player followed by Taylor Ongwae with 10 points, six assists and six rebounds.
Bracio Owili had nine points and three rebounds as Eugene Odera also clocked nine points, five assists and four rebounds. Derrick Ongechi had eight points and three rebounds.
The defeat, Kenya’s fourth of the qualifiers leaves them bottom with five points.
Kenya began the second leg of the qualifiers on the worst possible note after dishing out an easy 20-0 walk over to Tunisia.
This is after Morans failed to grace the arena on time due to late travel plans to the North African host nation.
This was a crucial game for Kenya, who were hoping to start the second phase of the qualifiers strongly after a mixed performance in the first round. Last year, they lost 90-69 to Tunisia and 88-58 to Angola but salvaged their campaign with an 80-74 win over Guinea.
Morans will face Guinea from 4pm in the final match of the qualifiers.