Basketball in Africa

Sunday
Men
Rusizi vs CSK 9am
Espoir vs APR 10am
Women
The Hoops vs Ubumwe
NATIONAL Basketball League defending champions Espoir are optimistic on recording a big victory over APR when the two archrivals face-off on Sunday at Amahoro indoor stadium.
The 2010 champions APR will be looking to bounce back from last weekend’s 67-50 defeat at hands of Albert Buhake’s IPRC-Kigali and register first league of the season. The military side will also be seeking for first win against Espoir in regular league since 2011.
On the other hand, the Nyamirambo-based Espoir, who won the league’s opening game 89-65 over University of Rwanda’s College of Arts and Social Sciences (UR-CASS) two weeks ago are in upbeat mood for another win on Sunday, according to interim coach Maxime Mwiseneza.
“For us every game is a must-win, that is the target we set ourselves at the start of each season, so we will into the game against APR, looking to win,” Mwiseneza told Sunday Sport.
In a separate interview, APR’s Kenyan trainer Cliff Owuor has challenged his youngsters to up their game against the four-time reigning league and playoffs champions as they seek to avoid a second successive defeat following their loss against IPRC-Kigali last weekend.
The two local giants met in semi-finals of the preseason tournament two weeks ago, and Espoir won 75-70.
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