Sunday, April 27 Final Men APR 94-92 UGB Women REG 65-61 JKL Dolphins APR Basketball Club nearly suffered an upset from United Generation Basketball (UGB) but experience helped them win their second basketball Genocide Memorial Tournament (GMT) in a row. James Maye Jr’s army side defeated UGB 94-92 in an epic final clash of the regional competition which concluded on Sunday, April 27, at Petit Stade indoor gymnasium. While two foreign clubs, namely Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and Tanzania’s Dar City, were invited to the six-team competition, the final was an all-Rwandan affair between UGB and APR who set the date after eliminating their respective regional opponents. APR, holders of the 2024 edition, won the first quarter 20-16 but UGB took the second quarter 18-17 and cut the point gap to three points as APR head into half time leading 37-34. Back the break, APR maintained their lead, though narrow, after claiming the third quarter 30-29. UGB got it too late to make a comeback despite claiming the fourth quarter 29-27 as it was not enough to turn the result around. American point guard Chasson Randle was the man of the show, as his 17 points and 3 rebounds, a well as Nobel Boungou Colo’s 17 points and 2 rebounds, powered APR to yet another trophy which they won in 2024. Ghanaian star Amotoe James Kofi lead the scoring in the game with dropping 26 points. Despite his stellar performance, coupled with Mohamed Doumbya’s18 points, UGB still fell short in the final. The fact that the competition attracted some strong regional clubs not only saw the GMT upgrade to a regional tournament but it also served as a good platform for APR to sharpen-up ahead of the 2025 Basketball Africa League. Elsewhere, Rwanda Energy Group (REG) won the GMT trophy in women’s category after beating JKL Dolphins 65-61 in the final. ALSO READ: Basketball: APR, UGB square off in GMT final Ramla Umunezero was the highest scorer of the final game with 15 points.
