Sunday Men U18 Boys 46-85 IPRC-SouthUGB 81-39 CSK Women IPRC-South 53-58 APR Saturday APR 60-63 IPRC- SouthIPRC-Kigali 122-39 CSK Friday Espoir 65-77 Patriots League title hopefuls IPRC- South earned two crucial wins against APR on Saturday and newly created U18 Boys team on Sunday to go top of the national basketball championship table standings. The Huye-based Integrated Polytechnic Regional Center (IPRC) Basketball Club overcame APR 63-60 in a hard fought victory on Saturday before overpowering struggling U18 Boys national team 85-46, both games were played at UR- College of Science and Technology (UR- CST) courts. On Saturday against APR, IPRC- South narrowly won the first two quarters 18-17 and 14-13 to go into half-time with a 32-32 lead. Cliff Owuor’s men bounced back to win the third quarter 14-05 with a 44-37 lead going into the final quarter, but Didier Bineza’s side woke up to win the final quarter 26-16 and subsequently secure a 63-60 victory against the military side. On Sunday against U18 Boys, IPRC- South had little challenge to overcome as they overwhelmed Moise Mutokambali’s youthful side in all quarters 19-13, 13-09, 23-11 and 21-13 to easily win the game 85-46 and go top of the table with 13 points from 7 games, one point ahead of Patriots who have played one game less. IPRC- South skipper Binvenue Niyonsaba was the star of the weekend as he scored 21 points in each of the two games to inspire his side to two important victories. On Saturday, he combined with Fabrice Rukundo (23points) for a sum of 44 points while Parfait Ishimwe and David Niyonzima scored 15 each for APR. In another clash held on Friday evening at Amahoro indoor stadium, regarded as the match of the season so far, Patriots defeated defending champions Espoir 79-66 to become the first side to challenge the Nyamirambo-based giants in regular league since February 2015. Espoir’s shooting guard Lionnel Hakizimana scored the game high 28 points while Aristide Mugabe scored 21 points for Henry Mwinuka’s on-form Patriots. As it stands, IPRC- South lead with 13 points, Patriots are second with 12 points, holders Espoir stand third with 11 points, while IPRC- Kigali come fourth with 10 points. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
