Leemisa Thuseho
THE delayed Lesotho Basketball Association (LBA) National Basketball League (NBA) play-offs finals will resume this weekend, the association has said.
The finals were halted last December to accommodate the recently held African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 Games that were held in Maseru.
LBA public relations officer, Hopolang Hoala, told the Lesotho Times this week that all was set for the games to resume.
“After the long break which was caused by the Region 5 games, the play-offs are resuming this weekend,” Hoala said.
He also revealed that the play-offs finals will be incorporated into the “No to Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and Cyberbullying” Netball, Volleyball and Basketball Tournament.
The tournament will be played at Lehakoe Recreational and Cultural Centre, in Maseru from tomorrow until Sunday.
According to Hoala, the reason behind joining the two events was to increase the hype around the finals while also supporting the GBV and cyberbullying awareness initiative.
The NBA finals are between the league defending champions Lerotholi Polytechnic (LP) and Tornado 98ers.
LP are enjoying an upper hand as they are now leading 2-1 in the best of five series.
LP started the play-offs on a high note winning 49-40 in their first game last October. They went on to win their second game by 81-47 before Tornado 98ers registered their first win of the play-offs 43-38.
The champions only need to win their next game to successfully defend their title while a win for Tornado 98ers will see the campaign extending to the fifth match which will be the decider.
LP coach, Tumelo Mara, said his side was ready for the weekend challenge as he indicated that their mission was to defend their title.
“We are determined to defend our title. The individuals’ training sessions started last week while team sessions started this week,” Mara said.
This is the first time Tornado 98ers are playing in the finals but Mara said they were not taking them for granted as they fought hard to be there.
“We will not be taking any chances because we know our opponents will come highly motivated after winning the last game. But our mandate is simple, we win the next game and become champions.”
On his part, Tornado 98ers coach, Thabang Letlala, said his side was also looking forward to winning the last games as they were eying their first ever league title.
“LP is already one step ahead of us but we still stand a chance to fight and win the league, we just need to win the remaining games. If we lose the next game it will be over,” Letlala said.
