Even in the absence of team captain Jimmy Enabu, team Enabu were the biggest winners on the opening night of this year’s Friday Night Lights (FNL) basketball on Friday at the YMCA courts in Wandegeya.
Ivan Enabu, Jimmy’s elder brother, led the team to two wins on the night with the judges’ vote earning the team victory in their first game against Wazee while the second game, against Blick, also had to be decided by the judges.
Because of the new rules that require teams to win votes off court, the competition on court was tamed and teams played to win the vote of both the fans and the judges.
Team Enabu’s creativity, that included lifting Joy Chemutai, their female player for a dunk in the second half of their second game, convinced the judges to vote for the team against team Blick.
Team McGyver, captained by Power’s Paul Odong, didn’t have to win against team Ayo to record their first win at FNL. They lost 34-46 but scooped both the fans’ and judges’ votes and those were enough for them to win on the night.
Team Otim is the other team that didn’t need to win on court to go home as victors.
Despite their 49-50 loss to team Makiadi, the fans’ and judges’ vote ensured they went home with a win in the bag. The voting is done online with the results displaying on the giant screen placed on the courtside.
“We tried to enjoy the game and give fans their money’s worth,” Enabu said at end of the night.The different winners on the night received goodies.
Fans were involved in determining winners, who walked away with a top cash prize of Shs 300,000 on the night.