Kenya Ports Authority Extends Perfect Start with Decisive Victory Over First Bank In Cairo

Kenya Ports Authority Extends Perfect Start with Decisive Victory Over First Bank In Cairo

The KPA Dockers issued a powerful statement in their pursuit of the 2025 WBLA title, extending their unbeaten run in the championships with a commanding 82-53 victory over Nigeria's First Bank Basketball Club. The win sends KPA to a perfect 2-0 record in the group stage, while leaving the Lagos-based club searching for answers with a 0-2 start.

Aminata Samassekou led the Kenyan charge with 20 points, finding consistent support from Alexus Johnson's 19 and Sara Dickey's 15. For First Bank, Wandoo Hembam turned in a resilient 21-point performance, adding three rebounds and an assist in a losing effort. Her team showed a brief spark in the fourth quarter, edging the period 18-16, but the mountain built by KPA's explosive first three quarters was too high to climb.

Guided by new head coach Nabil Kabalan, whose recent experience includes a championship run with Al Ahly Tripoli in the 2025 BAL, the returning Kenyan champions are playing with clear purpose, as their intent was evident from the opening minutes, launching an immediate 10-0 run and seizing control of the game within the first minute. They never looked back afterwards, and by the final buzzer, KPA had led for over 37 of the game's 40 minutes.

The match was a showcase of KPA’s defensive pressure and offensive cohesion as they converted Nigerian turnovers into 19 points, outpaced First Bank 22-12 on fast breaks, and established an overwhelming 40-8 advantage in the paint. While First Bank fought hard on the offensive glass to earn 21 second-chance points, they could not contain KPA’s balanced attack.

The Nigerian club also had more points from bench contributions than the Kenyan side. However, it still wasn't enough to topple the Kenyans, as the experienced duo of Alexus and Sara kept dictating the pace of play in a game they were pretty comfortable in.

Reacting to the game's outcome, First Bank Coach Juliana Negedu said she was optimistic ahead of the tie, but it didn’t go as planned.

“I was really optimistic about the game, and our mindset was to take over the game, but somehow, our intentions were not realised. We needed to improve our chemistry when playing together, and we still need to find a way to address that. Our strategy must be different going forward.

We will look at what we failed to do well and make adjustments ahead of the game against FAP of Cameroon. We hope to have a good start, do better with our shots and improve on our general play.”

Coach Nabil, whose team has now registered two wins out of two, praised his side but quickly pointed out a loophole that he hopes can be corrected as they progress in the competition.

“I am glad we got the win, we prepared our team to be ready for the aggression that the Nigerians will bring, and I wasn’t particularly happy with us making 24 turnovers, that’s too much and high-level teams don’t do that, so it has to be fixed in our next game.”

Aminata, who was the top performer for the East Africans in today’s game, also spoke to AfricaBasket after the game and couldn't hold back her excitement as she relishes seeing her team make it to the latter stages of the tournament.

“ The game was good and myself and the team felt really good especially with us registering another win and I feel with this momentum  and we are pretty positive that we can go far in the competition.”

Kenya Ports Authority, 2023 WBLA silver medalists, who are making a return to the competition after missing last year's edition, will next be in action on Tuesday when they face the defending champions Ferroviario De Maputo of Mozambique in a highly anticipated clash between two major sides.

Meanwhile, Nigeria's First Bank will aim for its first win in the championship as it goes head-to-head against fellow strugglers FAP of Cameroon in a crucial game that could still give either side a chance to advance from Group B.

[Photography Courtesy of FIBA]