Basketball in Africa

Saturday
Men
UR- CASS 41-63 Patriots
Espoir 98-65 IPRC- Kigali
Women
Ubumwe 72-76 IPRC- South
UR- Huye 53-51 The Hoops

Patriots Basketball Club overcame University of Rwanda’s College of Arts and Social Sciences (UR- CASS), on Saturday, to increase their win ratio to 3-0 this season.
In a fully packed gymnasium of the university side in Huye District, title hopeful Patriots, who finished second, both in regular league and play-off games last season, responded well to a shaky start to win 63-41 against Charles Mushumba’s UR- CASS.
The first quarter ended 12-12 before the hosts UR- CASS grabbed a narrow 16-14 win in the second quarter to go into half-time with a 28-26 lead.
Henry Mwinuka’s Patriots turned tables up to easily win the third quarter 22-08 before claiming the final quarter by 15-13 for a full-time 63-41 emphatic victory.
UR- CASS power-forward Edmond Joie Igabe scored a game high 19 points but one-man efforts were not enough to save the day for the Huye-based side.
Point-guard Ali Kazingufu Kubwimana and forward Patrick Habyarimana scored 14 points each for Patriots.
In a post-match interview, Patriots’ Tanzanian-born coach Mwinuka told Times Sport that his side started the game a bit slow but later adjusted to eventually win the tie.
“That is the important thing,” he said.
Elsewhere, four-time champions Espoir humiliated Albert Buhake’s IPRC- Kigali in a 98-65 thriller to equal Patriots’ positive run of 3-0 win ratio.
In the women’s league, it was a day of upsets as former champions Ubumwe were stunned 76-72 by Huye-based IPRC- South while UR- CASS beat Hoops Rwanda 53-51.

Kampala. After blowing a 21 point lead in game five, there was real worry with 25 seconds left of Friday’s game six that the UCU Lady Canons had again faltered against the KCCA Leopards.

Analysis By John Vianney Nsimbe

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  Ulinzi's Erick Mutoro dribbles the ball away from KPA's Evans Letting.(Photo by Shutterspeed)
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  KPA's Victor Bosire shields the ball from Ulinzi's Erick Mutoro.(Photo by Shutterspeed)
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  Ulinzi's Erick Mutoro dribbles the ball away from KPA's Evans Letting.(Photo by Shutterspeed)

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2. 2

Ulinzi Warriors has defied home court advantage to take a 2-0 series lead against hosts Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) in Mombasa.
The men's Premier League semifinal playoffs game will now head to Nairobi for games three, four and five in case the series goes to full length.
Ulinzi will need a win in game three to proceed to the final for the second year running while KPA must win all the three games to progress.
On Saturday, the soldiers won game one 85-77 and came out 87-81 winners in game two on Sunday.
At the Nyayo National Stadium gymnasium, Nairobi City Thunder took control of the second semifinal 2-1 after winning game three 72-69 against United States International University- Africa (USIU-A).
After a balanced contest, Griffin Ligare won it for Thunder from the free-throw line in the last seconds of the game.
After the lead had changed hands severally in short intervals inside fourth quarter, Shem Otieno made a steal off Derick Juma with a minute to play and scored to give Thunder a 68-66 lead.
Alex Ramazani then fired a three-pointer with 34 seconds remaining for USIU-A to lead 69-68 but fouling cost them heavily. With 33 seconds to go, Juma fouled Ligare who made two free shots for a 70-69 lead.
Ramazani then fouled Ligare with 17 seconds remaining and the resultant two free shots sealed the win.
The game tipped off with USIU-A taking a 2-0 lead and led again at 4-3, 13-11 and 15-11 before taking home first quarter 19-13. Thunder led only once at 3-2 with ties of 11-11 and 13-13.
Thunder led 38-35 at halftime
The students continued their dominance into second quarter and opened up an 11-point lead at 28-17. Thunder fought back to take the lead at 33-32 before the game tied 35-35. Thunder surged ahead 36-35 to win the quarter 25-16 and lead 38-35 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Thunder maintained a 10-point advantage over USIU-A leading 45-35, 47-37 and 50-40. USIU-A then went on a 10-0 scoring run to tie 50-50 with only 20 seconds remaining. Thunder led 51-50 but tied 51-51 to close the quarter that USIU-A won 16-13.
The students had a setback after key player Joel Ntambwe was disqualified with two technical fouls and will now miss games four and five. Thunder won the fourth quarter 21-18 after leading for four times at 55-54, 58-57, 64-63 and 68-66.
USIU-A led for four times as well at 54-51, 57-56, 63-62 and 65-64. They tied once at 66-66. Ligare scored 18 points for Thunder while Alvin Nyangweso top scored for USIU-A with 14 points, Ntambwe had 13 and Kevin Kigotho scored 12.
Thunder scored 18 points from the three-point line and 23 from free shots with USIU-A scoring 24 from three-pointers and 19 from free shots.
In the women's Premier League, KPA leads Co-operative Bank 2-0 after winning game two 63-43. Point guard Grace Wanjiku scored six points to lead the bankers to a positive start with a 8-0 lead after five minutes of play in first quarter.
She finished the quarter with eight points as Co-op Bank won 12-11.
The second quarter was closely contested with KPA winning 15-12 for a 26-24 halftime lead. KPA had their first lead at 13-12 and stretched to 17-12 before Co-op Bank came back to tie 17-17.
Mercy Achieng who scored eight points in the quarter played a crucial role in helping the bankers put a good fight. They took a 19-17 lead and made it a 5-point game at 22-17 but KPA rallied back to tie 22-22.
The bankers then led 24-22 but KPA led at 25-24 again. Co-op Bank lost it all in second half as they allowed KPA to break away. Angela Namirimu and Wanjiku scored four points each as the bankers lost third quarter 8-18 to trail by 12 points at 32-44.
KPA's biggest lead
KPA won the fourth quarter 19-11 and had the biggest lead of 27 points at 63-36. Wanjiku top scored for Co-op Bank with 17 points while Natalie Akinyi scored 13 for KPA, Evelyn Itabu had 12 and Hellen Oketch scored 11.
Both teams made three three-pointers with KPA scoring 16 points from free shots against eight for Co-op Bank.
Kenya College of Accountancy- University (KCA-U) beat Trailblazers 55-46 to lead 2-0 in division one semifinal playoffs. George Obumbo and Brian Ondari scored 15 points each and Lawrence Wandera added 12 to steer KCA-U to the win.
Nelson Kisia top scored for Trailblazers with 13 points and Katimwa Christopher added 12.
In the second semifinal, Upper Hill leads Barclays Bank 1-0 after winning 69-64. David Ouma scored highest for Upper Hill with 16 points while Riny Riny and Isaiah Ater scored 15 each. Franklin Delano hit four three-pointers to top score for Barclays with 23 points.

Having lost game one 55-66, United States International University - Africa (USIU-A) Tigers needed to win the second and level 1-1 to have a realistic chance of making it to the final.
They did by beating Nairobi City Thunder 81-69 in an exciting match at the Nyayo Stadium indoor Gymnasium on Saturday.
It was an end to end match that saw Thunder commit costly mistakes. The first quarter was evenly contested. When the Tigers scored, Thunder roared back.
Ultimately, the latter ended up taking the quarter 16-13. But it all went awry for them in the second quarter when Tigers minimized their mistakes in possession and improved on their reaction to rebounds.
The big man Kevin Kigotho was doing most of the work picking the ball under the rim and Thunder found it hard to keep to the pace. Griffin Ligare who had a blistering game in the first game on Friday night was hugely subdued.
He was closed down by at least two players whenever he had the ball and was only reduced to 17 points in the entire match. The outstanding point guard had to be substituted midway through the second quarter to give him a breather as Tigers clawed back to a 36-31 score at half time.
Upon resumption, Thunder tried to tidy up their act and pushed the ball with more ease as the third quarter began managing to reduce the gap to at least four points.
Thunder tried spectacular shots
But, they got a bit over themselves, trying out spectacular shots and three pointers with their opponents meaning business and going for simple lay ups for points whenever they won possession. With Tigers taking a 59-50 lead heading into the last quarter, the game livened up.
Thunder believed they still had the match but the students were resilient, Joel Ntambwe being one of their best players as he went on to sink 20 points for his side
In the first game, Kenya Ports Authority edged out a resilient Co-op Bank 57-54. The bankers opened an 11-points gap coming into the third quarter to push the game to within three baskets by the time the quarter ended.
They put up their A game in the final quarter and with eight minutes of play remaining, had pushed the game to within half a basket, the scores being at 46-47 in favor of KPA. Belinda Akoth was particularly influential for Co-op with her height, picking up the balls easily under an army of KPA back liners.
With 4.37 on the clock, KPA had a slim 51-49 lead and this prompted their coach to call for a time out. It worked as KPA came back stronger and stretching their lead to 57-51. But the game was to have a nervy ending as Co-op pushed to within four points.
But with 20 seconds left and the arrow on their favor, KPA called for a timeout and on resumption just swung the ball around to wind down the clock and pick the first series win.
Sunday fixtures: Eldonets vs 4-Christ (10 a.m., UG), ANU vs JKUAT (9 a.m., Nyayo gymnasium), Barclays Bank vs Upper Hill (10:30), KCA-U vs Trailblazers (12 p.m.), KPA vs Co-op Bank (2 p.m.), USIU-A vs Thunder (4 p.m.).

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City Oilers vs. UCU Canons 8:00pm, Lugogo
On five occasions they had been knocking and the door banged at them. Even when it seemed like they had a foot in, they were not as strong to make the final push.
Finally, they have crushed the door and the UCU Canons are in the National Basketball League Playoffs finals for the first time.
The buzz among the players, coaches, faithfuls and neutrals alike was visible from Wednesday night when they ejected KIU Titans in a blow out.
However, there's no time to celebrate making the maiden finals as the seven game playoffs finals start tonight at Lugogo.
UCU's coach, Nick Natuhereza knows the finals appearance is not enough and they are going for it but admits it's a tough challenge they are up against.

Ofcourse it's going to be tough because we are playing against the two time defending champions but we are ready for the challenge

With no time to recover from the five game stretch with KIU most of it their making, Natuhereza hopes that doesn't affect his charges going into Game 1.
"You can't rule it (fatigue) out but I hope it doesn't affect us"
How will UCU turn out?
Offensively:
The Canons are probably the best transition team in the league. The university side enjoys scoring on transition using the athleticism of the youthful players from the guards to bigs.
In the two blowout victories over KIU, the Kansanga based team's transition defense was bleeding with their inability to balance the court and keep up with the pace of UCU.
The speed with which UCU turn their defense into offense will give City Oilers trouble especially if it's the guards who will break away.
With the presence of bigs Desmond Owili, Ivan Lumanyika and the young Fadhili Chuma off the bench, UCU have an option of going down to pound Kami Kabange, Landry Ndikumana and Samuel Kalwanyi.
In the young guard, Steven Wundi, Canons have someone who can cook from deep. Wundi I'd an effective player in the half court and if Lumanyika, Owili and Chuma can set the 'catch and shoot' guard a couple of screens, he will be a silent weapon. Point guard, Innocent Odur could also get Canons points from down town.
"We will try and get him (Wundi) a couple of shots" Natuhereza said.
In Jonathan Egau, UCU have got an effective secondary scorer. The guard-forward's ability to drive to the hoop and an occasional 3-point shot may go along way in helping Canons.
"He has improved a lot since he got here and gets better every year. He gives us something different every year." Natuhereza said of Egau.
Outside of Ndejje's Walker Obedi, no coach in the league plays zone defense as much as Nick Natuhereza.
In fact Natuhereza will prefer his zone defense against City Oilers who in Kabange and Ndikumana have the smartest bigs in the league.
Natuhereza will set up his zone to keep Oilers' bigs away from the basket. However, if Ben Komakech, Jeff Omondi and Jimmy Enabu connect from the 3-point line, the Canons may be forced out of the zone.
How UCU switch defenses will be key in limiting arguably the best team in the league coached by the best coach in the country.
"It will come down to how we play on defense. If we play good defense, we will give ourselves a chance" Natuhereza told Kawowo Sports.
How will Oilers turn out?
Offensively:
City Oilers probably have the most offensive options of the two sides. The back-to-back champions can score on transition, go down to their bigs or have Komakech and Omondi score from 3-point range and occasionally from Enabu and Daniel Jjuko.
Kami Kabange, the Oilers' first offensive option may find it tough to work from his office against UCU whose interior defense is quite solid.
However, key to Oilers offense is the passing ability and patience of the team that gets players open for shots and easy looks at the basket.
Without doubt even if UCU lock the interior, Oilers will find a way of unlocking it. In Landry Ndikumana, Oilers have a big who can do a little bit of everything with the ball and comfortable inside out. The Burundian may draw Lumanyika or Chuma outside and with the occasional 3-pointer that he practices every night under the dim lights of the KIU court, Ndikumana could be a real thorn in UCU's flesh.
Jimmy Enabu gives Oilers the pace with his quick feet and long hands. The MVP's drives to the basket may unsettle UCU's defense and earn him a few trips to the line.
The maturity and experience of Ben Komaketch and Jeff Omondi may give the defending champions an edge on the back court offensively.
Defensively:
Any coach would naturally direct their defensive strategy at limiting Lumanyika and Owili as well as their provider Innocent Odur. Kami Kabange, Ndikumana and Samuel Kalwanyi will have to stand some pounding at the post if Owili and Lumanyika get into their groove.
Oilers' court balance on offense will be key to making defensive stops on UCU's transition.