Friday night, April 18 REG 105-82 Azomco Kepler 62-61 Patriots Patriots’ troubles continued with yet another shock 62-61 loss at the hands of Kepler on Friday, April 18, at Petit Stade indoor gymnasium. Chad Bowie Jordan scored 18 points 18 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists in Kepler’s win, putting Patriots’ hopes of securing the spot in the Rwanda Basketball League playoffs in danger. The American point guard was in his prime, as his strong combination with youngster Chandelier Cyiza and Central African Republic point guard Kurt-Curry Axel Wegscheider as well as Elia Kaje inspired Kepler to a 28-26 lead at half-time. Patriots started the second half pushing to fight back and they successfully won the third quarter 14-11 to open a one-point lead going into the final quarter. Kepler showed character and kept the fight on until the last second, and their resilience paid off as they went to win the fourth quarter 23-21 to steal the win away from coach Sunny Niyomugabo and his Patriots side. While Bowie led the scores with a double-double, Cyiza and Kurt-Curry Axel also made tremendous performances, contributing 17 and 10 points respectively to the win. American point guard Cole Elliott, on the other side, led the Patriots scoring 20 points, followed by Steven Hagumintwari and Ronald Nato Kolmia 12 and 10 points but their team was outperformed, as they lost the fourth game of the season. With the loss, chances of making the playoffs now seem to be under threat with the likes of Tigers, Orion and United Generational Basketball all in serious contention for a top four finish. In another game played on Friday night, REG outclassed Azomco 105-82. As things stand, APR lead the table of the league with 30 points, nine ahead of second- placed Tigers. While REG are in third place with 21 points. The Patriots are in fourth place with 21 points.
