FIBA-Africa Zone V: Espoir off to winning start as Ubumwe falters

Sunday Selected fixtures Group BCitizen (S. Sudan) vs Espoir (Rwa) 8pm Group ASavio (TZ) vs Patriots (Rwa) 6pm WomenKCCA (UG) vs Ubumwe (Rwa) 10am Saturday selected results Men: Goup BEspoir (Rwa) 74-64 ABC (TZ) WomenKPA (KEN) 62-51 Ubumwe (Rwa) Espoir basketball club kicked off their 2016 FIBA-Africa Zone V Club Championship campaign on a high note defeating Tanzania’s ABC 74-64 as Ubumwe lost to Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) 62-51 in the women category yesterday. The two Rwandan teams played their first games less than 16 hours following a two-day long journey by road from Kigali to Dar-es-Salaam. The three teams including debutants Patriots departed for the one-week long tournament on Thursday morning and arrived in Dar es Salaam on Friday evening. But fatigue didn’t stop Espoir from winning their opener over home side ABC in a closely contested game. ABC started the game strongly taking the first two quarters 21-19 and 36-35 points respectively. However, the 2015 Rwandan league champions Espoir made a quick come back in the third and fourth quarters, eventually winning the game 74-64. In the women category, Rwanda’s sole representatives Ubumwe kicked their campaign losing to Kenya giants KPA 51-62. The first quarter finished with KPA leading 15-6 points while the second quarter finished 38-19 in favor of KPA that increased the gap from nine points in the first quarter to 19 points in the second quarter. The third quarter ended with KPA leading 48-31 with Ubumwe only managing to reduce the gap by two points. However in the final quarter, Jacques Bahigye’s girls tried to come back in the game reducing the difference to 11 points but it was too little too late. editorial@newtimes.co.rw The women category comprise seven clubs that will play against each other on a round robin format and the top two clubs will face off in the final addition with qualifying for this year’s FIBA-Africa Club Championships.The clubs in the women category include; Ubumwe, KPA and USIU (Kenya), JKT & Don Bosco (Tanzania) plus UCU & KCCA (Uganda).editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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FIBA-Africa Zone V: Espoir off to winning start as Ubumwe falters