Sunday UGB 91-63 IPRC-Musanze Patriots 83-61 Espoir Point guard Bello Nkanira scored a game-high 17 points on Sunday as Patriots beat Espoir 83-61 at STECOL basketball court to finish the weekend at the summit of Rwanda basketball league. The youngster put up electric performance that piled more misery on Espoir after forming a strong combination with small forwards Steven Hagumintwari and Bienvenue Niyonsaba as well as guard Sedar Sagamba who inspired Patriots to a 40-24 lead in the first two quarters (21-13 and 19-11). While Espoir started the second half pushing to fight back, it was Mwinuka’s men who resumed from where they left off as they grabbed the third quarter 20-13 but Espoir bounced back with a fourth quarter 24-23. Nkanira enjoyed a fantastic evening on the court as he posted a game-high 17 points, while Hagumintwari and Niyonsaba contributed 16 and 12 points respectively. Espoir Hertier Irumva, on the other side, led Espoir scorers with 16 points, followed by Eric Muhayumukiza and Yamin Niyubahwe who posted 11 points apiece. After seven rounds, Henry Mwinuka’s side lead the table standing with 13 points, one ahead of second-placed Rwanda Energy Group (REG). Meanwhile, Espoir had a disastrous weekend to forget as they failed the Patriots' test two days after they were brushed aside by title hopefuls APR 80-35 on Friday. Despite the defeats, former champions Espoir remained third with 12 points, having won five and lost twice in their first seven games so far this season. Elsewhere, United Generation Basketball (UGB) outclassed IPRC-Musanze 91-63 to go eighth with eight points with the latter dropping to tenth with seven points after the defeat.
