Basketball in Africa

Sunday
Men
APR 62-63 Patriots
CSK 60-67 Rusizi
UGB 62-51 30-Plus
Espoir 79-65 IPRC-South
Women
Ubumwe 59-51 The Hoops Rwanda
Saturday
Men
APR 58-52 UGB
IPRC-Kigali 58-35 30-Plus
Rusizi 20-00 UR- CoE
Women
IPRC-South 26-54 APR
Debutants Patriots basketball club stole the show from seven-time champions APR, stunning them with a narrow 63-62 victory on Sunday at Cercle Sportif de Kigali courts.
Patriots, formed just two months ago, lost the first quarter 20-16 but bounced back to claim the second quarter 22-13 with the first-half ending 38-33 in their favour. APR snacked the third quarter 17-12 before losing the final quarter 13-12.
The league’s new side got their first win of the season thanks to Ali Kubwimana and Walter Nkurunziza, who both a game high 13 points apiece, while former APR shooting guard, Sunny Niyomugabo added 10 points.
According to head coach Cyrille Kalima, Patriots have set high ambitions of at least reaching the playoffs this year and to win the title in the next three seasons.
In a post-game interview, Kalima told Times Sport, “Truth to be told, I am a bit surprised. This is a very important victory; we are going to build on this foundation to even perform better in the next fixtures so that we can achieve our target of finishing in the top four.”
Elsewhere on Sunday, two-time reigning champions, Espoir started their title defence with a convincing 79-65 win over IPRC-South at KIST court.
Last year’s first runners-up, Cercle sportif de Kigali (CSK) were stunned at home by Rusizi 67-60, UGB who lost 58-52 to APR on Saturday, bounced back to defeat 30-Plus 62-51.
IPRC-Kigali, who beat 30-Plus 58-35 on Saturday, had their game against Kigali Basketball Club (KBC) on Sunday, called off due to rain.
However, it was also not a lucky day for women’s league defending champions, Ubumwe who lost 59-51 to new entrants of The Hoops Rwanda at Cercle Sportif de Kigali on Saturday, while former champions APR routed 54-26 IPRC-South in Huye.
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