It is difficult to talk about Kenya’s qualification for the 2021 Fiba AfroBasket Championships for the first time in 28 years without mentioning the name of Denmark-based Tylor Okari Ongwae.
The shooting guard, who plays professional basketball for Bakken Bears in Denmark, has become a key figure for national team Kenya Morans with his skill and level of professionalism. Almost always, he rises to the occasion when his team needs him most.
In June 2019, Ongwae was instrumental as Kenya Morans won the Zone Five qualifiers for 2019 African Games in Kampala, helping the team qualify for the continental championship which was held later in Morocco.
On February 21, Ongwae’s buzzer-beater stunned Angola 74-73 in the second round of the qualifiers held in Yaounde, helping Kenya qualify for the 2021 Fiba AfroBasket Championships for the first time in 28 years. He had missed the first round held in Kigali.
And on Sunday, he starred as the Kenya Morans beat Mali 72-66 in their final Group ‘C’ match to keep alive hope of reaching the quarter-finals of the 2021 Fiba AfroBasket Championships at the Kigali Indoor Arena. Kenya Morans who finished third in the group play South Sudan for a place in the quarter-finals Tuesday.
His teammates look up to him for inspiration due to his vast experience in basketball, a game he started playing at Friends School Kamusinga in Bungoma County.
“My basketball skills improved while I was in secondary school because we had a very good coach. In 2009, we played in the secondary schools national championships against Laiser Hill but lost. But it was a great experience being there for the first time,” Ongwae told Nation Sport yesterday in Kigali.
As a small boy, he loved football due to influence from his elder brother. That was until he broke his leg.
“I have grown up with my brother and we used to play football together at Metro Club in Eldoret. We never used to care about basketball. Then I broke my leg in 2003 and was out for one and a half years. Upon healing, I took up playing basketball,” he recalls.
Locally, he played for Eldonets before joining Strathmore University, from where he left for joined University of Louisiana at Monroe in USA. He played collegiate basketball while pursuing a course in Business Management.
His basketball career took him to Sweden, and later to New Zealand before ending up in Denmark.
His first call-up to the national team was in 2011 alongside Peter Kiganya, Ronnie Gundo, Griffin Ligare and Desmond Owili, in readiness for the Zone Five qualifiers, but he did not make the final team.
“In 2011, Kenya had one of the best teams. Just being around those talents was a good learning experience for me. Seeing Kiganya playing and lifting the team those days inspired me,” he narrated.
Having stayed in Denmark for four years, Ongwae, 30, has gained massive experience playing for Bakken Bears club that has won three straight titles in the Basketligaen, Denmark’s top tier basketball league. Last season, he emerged the best defensive player of the year in the league.
“Unlike many players, I like taking the responsibility of defending. If you are a two-way player, you can defend and at the same time play offensively, then that is an advantage and that is what I have been working on. My mentality is defence first, then I go on the offense,” he said.
He looks back to the second leg of the 2021 Fiba AfroBasket qualifiers held in Yaounde with pride.
“In Yaoundé, we really needed a win to qualify for the AfroBasket. It was a very close game in the last five minutes. We made a number of mistakes and Angola went ahead in the last three minutes. Looking at the clock, I noticed we only had 21 seconds of play, and I decided to take a chance and shoot for a point, whatever the outcome. Luckily, I scored a point which made us qualify,” Ongwae added.
“After that shot, Angola thought there was enough time to attack us, but I had done my mathematics well and decided to shoot with only five seconds left. When it went down the rim the time stopped and that was it,” he remembers.
On Sunday, he again came through for Kenya Morans against Mali at the ongoing AfroBasket Championships. He carried the team on his back in a must-win match, scoring 16 points as Kenya won the game in 72-66.
Playing in presence of his mother Florence Okari who was among the few spectators at Kigali arena, Ongwae led his team from the front against the West African nation in an explosive Group C game.
His mother has been a big source of inspiration and has been supporting him in basketball.
“My mother used to come and watch me play during high school games but she has never watched me live playing professionally. She has only watched me on TV. It is always good to play when your family is watching,” said Ongwae.
“She was meant to travel to Yaounde for the qualifiers last year but Covid-19 happened. So I thought this is a good opportunity for her to come and watch me play for Kenya.”
He revealed that his mother last watched him play in 2010 in a schools championship held at Upper Hill Hight School in Nairobi.
Does he feel intimidated by big names in Fiba AfroBasket Championships?
“We lost our second Group C match against Nigeria, but we did not feel intimidated . I have played against better players,” he says with confidence. BY DAILY NATION
