Espoir, APR look to recover from Monday defeats

RWANDA's two representatives at this year's Fiba/Africa Zone five club championships will be back in action today as they attempt to put behind them a disappointing start to the tournament in Mombasa.

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Today

Women

APR (Rwa)  vs GHA (Eth) 9am

Don Bosco (Tan)  vs  USIU (Ken) 12pm

KPA (Ken)  vs  KCCA (Uga)  2pm

Berco Stars (Bur)  vs  UCU (Uga) 4pm

Men

Coop. Bank (Ken)  vs  Urunani (Bur) 10am

Tiger Head (Uga)  vs I.L.S (Som) 6pm

KPA (Ken)                  vs   Espoir (Rwa) 8pm

City Oilers (Uga)  vs  E.W.S (Eth)

RWANDA’s two representatives at this year’s Fiba/Africa Zone five club championships will be back in action today as they attempt to put behind them a disappointing start to the tournament in Mombasa.

Former Zone V champions Espoir BC suffered a 64-58 defeat to Ugandan champions of City Oilers, while APR women lost 36-61 to KCCA of Uganda in their opening matches.

Espoir, who are seeking to win a second regional title after their 2012 triumph in Kampala, will be up against home side KPA at 8pm, while APR face Government House of Ethiopia, from at 9am.

During last year’s edition in Bujumbura, APR women were eliminated in the group stages, while the then defending champions Espoir lost 56-66 to the 2012 first runners-up Urunani of Burundi in the final.

Espoir head coach Jean Bahufite told Times Sport from Kenya on Tuesday that Monday’s narrow loss was a wake-up call, which will only make his team stronger in the next games.

 "Every team is strong in this tournament, so we need to be cautious and more focused in the next games. I can guarantee our fans that we will do our best in the game against KPA on Wednesday,” he noted.

Meanwhile, men’s defending champions Urunani and Burundi’s reining women’s league champions Berco Stars, will appear in the tournament after managing to raise funds to make the trip at the last hour—but the country’s would-be second men’s team, Newstars is certainly out.