Basketball in Africa

Saturday
Boys
APR 62-71 Patriots
Girls
First leg semi-final playoff
Ubumwe 57-43 The Hoops
APR 74-25 pts
Patriots basketball club yesterday cruised past APR 71-62 in the third game of the semi-final playoffs to reach the finals of the men’s basketball league at Cercle Sportif de Kigali.
Patriots looked compact and determined as they defeated APR with guard Patrick Habiyambere scoring a game high 17 points while APR’s Pascal Abimana scored 15 points.
In an interview with Sunday Sport, Patriots head coach Cyrille Kalima revealed that they are excited to reach the finals because APR is a good team but his side was more effective.
“APR is a strong team but they were not effective today so we exploited that opportunity,” said Kalima. Patriots will meet Espoir in the finals of the basketball league on August 1, however, the venue is yet to be announced.
In the women’s first leg semi-final playoffs, Ubumwe and APR will meet in the final after wins over The Hoops and University of Rwanda (UR) respectively.
Alice Muhongerwa from Ubumwe top scored with 23 points to guide her side to victory while Nadine Rutagengwa from The Hoops had 13 points.
“The game has given us confidence because we have lost our three principal players to other teams but having won the first leg has given us confidence for the second leg,” said Ernest Ntaganda, head Coach Ubumwe.
In the other game, APR humiliated UR 74-25 with Sandra Kantore scoring19 points for APR while Nadine Urwibutso added eight points for UR.
“We actually had a good game and I think it is all because of the experience and trainings my players have, we are confident we shall qualify for the finals,” said APR women’s basketball assistant coach Aime Karim Nkusi.
The second playoff game will be played today and the winning team will qualify for the finals of the women’s basketball league.