Rift Valley National Polytechnic (RVNP) Rockets crowned champions after thrashing Kabarak University

The Rift Valley National Polytechnic (RVNP) Rockets are this year's Nakuru Universities and Colleges League Champions.

In what went down as one of the greatest Moi derby matches, the team that have been back-to-back finalists in the last two years made sure they were not going to lose this time.

The teams were to play in a best-of-three series, with the team which would win two of the three games being crowned champions.

In the first game, the Rockets showed dominance by taking an early lead through their players James Wanyonyi and Alpha Kosgei.

The Rockets managed to exploit Kabarak's defensive errors, and by the time the first quarter was ending things were not looking good for Kabarak.

In the second quarter the story was the same, with the Rockets dominating, and as the second quarter came to an end it was clear that the Rockets had this one in the bag.

The first game ended 48-56 in favour of the Rockets. At this point the battle was won, however, the war was far from over.

Coming into the second game, the Kabarak Royals were determined to save face and the game was tight to say the least.

In any basketball game, it is believed that a team with the 6th man, more often than not, carries the day.

This was the case for the Rockets. Their crowd charged them giving them much-needed motivation.

Coupled with the impressive tactical awareness and play of Alvin Longinus, the Rockets managed to dominate the first half of the game.

The fourth quarter saw the Rockets just running down the clock as the Royals struggled to get possession of the ball.
When the final whistle went, some of the Rocket players broke down in tears. The third time was a charm.
Rodney Oduhulla, a Rockets player, says that this moment was especially special for him, seeing that he has been in the finals twice and he never managed to win the title.
"I am overjoyed and I believe this was our year. Coming into this year we came in with determination and zeal. We put in effort in training and in our games and indeed it has paid off," he says.
In the women's category the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology managed to clinch their second consecutive title after dominating the RVNP women’s team.