Patriots Basketball Club Patriots will be seeking to retain the national league trophy after a good campaign in the just concluded Basketball Africa League (BAL) tournament in Kigali. The regular season is set to tip off on June 4 and run through July 10. Patriots finished in fourth place in the two week competition after losing 46-87 to Tunisian giants Union Sportive (US) Monastir. As a result, the team bagged a cash prize of ($ 25 000), approximately Rwf24 million. Patriots head coach Bernard ‘Ben’ Oluoch from Kenya told Times Sport on Tuesday that they will resume training on Wednesday since the season starts on Friday. “We want to defend our title and that means starting with a win because this year’s league has only a short period of two months. Of course it will not be easy but we have to compete.” “The BAL tournament has helped us gain valuable experience with most of the players having played against some of the best on the continent,” he noted. Olouch confirmed that one of his key players, Steven Hagumintwari has a knee injury he sustained during the BAL tournament. The defending champion will start their campaign against Shoot 4 Stars at Amahoro indoor stadium.
