Saturday UR- CASS 53-78 Espoir Friday Patriots 78-37 U18 Boys TeamIPRC-Kigali 75-51 UGB Patrick Buzangu scored the game high 21 points to inspire Espoir to an emphatic 78-53 win over UR-CASS in the national basketball league game on Saturday at UR- Huye campus gymnasium. The four-time reigning champions, looking to bounce back from last week’s defeat to APR, overcame the University of Rwanda- College of Arts and Social Sciences side in-front of their home fans. Espoir started on a high temple, going down very fast on UR- CASS side, and in the end ran away with the first quarter 20-6. From that moment, it looked obvious they would win the game; the visitors also claimed the second quarter 23-17 to go into half-time with a 43-23 lead. The varsity side came back for the second half, with more energy and vigor to turn tables and went on to win the third quarter 14-11, however, they failed to maintain the momentum in the final quarter, losing it 24-16 to suffer the 8th defeat from 14 league games so far this season. DR Congo-born Buzangu (21pts) and Olivier Shyaka (17pts) combined for a total 38 points for Espoir while center Edmond Joie Igabe and small forward Eric Habumugisha scored 14 and 12 points respectively for Charles Mushumba’s side. Early on Friday night, Patriots overwhelmed former champions APR 78-37 while on-form IPRC- Kigali defeated United Generation Basketball (UGB) club 75-51. Both games were played at Amahoro indoor stadium. Espoir and IPRC- Kigali top the table with 28 points each but the former lead courtesy of a better score average, IPRC-South are third with 27 points and a game in hand while Patriots complete the top four with 24 points, but having played two games less. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
