25 Nov 2013

Troopers are this year’s champions of Botswana Basketball Association men’s league.

They wrapped the title by beating Splinters 68-53 at the SSKB basketball court on November 23.  However, they were made to sweat for the win as Splinters controlled most of the entertaining clash.

Splinters, who are struggling near the foot of the 11-team league, took a surprise 20-5 lead in the first quarter with Phofuetsile Leave, Mpho Seretse and Gofamodimo Baraedi easily finding gaps in the Troopers defence.

They maintained their lead until Ratanang Tsayang and Thebe Morwaagole inspired Troopers to a comeback victory in the fourth quarter. It was the 19th win out of 19 matches for Troopers, and Coach William Nyangu said he wants his charges to complete a hundred per cent winning record by beating arch-rivals Spartans in their last match.

“The aim is to win every single match. We are going out there and play hard against Spartans on Tuesday. We don’t need the points because we have already won the league, but every single game counts for us,” said Nyangu. He said they struggled against Splinters because the players were complacent.

“We made hard work of the game we could have won easily,” he noted. Nyangu said he was happy that Troopers have managed to recapture the league title after losing it to Spartans last year. He explained that they are now gunning to complete a double by winning the National Championships in December. ENDS