Flying REG target Heroes Day title

Wednesday Semi-finalsREG vs IPRC Kigali 4pm Espoir vs Patriots 6pm WomenUbumwe vs The Hoops Rwanda 2pm Rwanda Energy Group (REG) Basketball Club are keen to win the ongoing Heroes’ Day tournament for their first ever competitive title following a very impressive campaign during the group stages that commenced over the weekend. Despite a seemingly non-convincing display in the league recently where they lost against defending champions Patriots, REG last week sent a chilling message to their rivals after progressing from group A unbeaten, including revenging on reigning league champions, Patriots. Under four-time league winning coach, Jean Bahufite, REG, inspired by their new signing Kami Kabange, from Uganda champions City Oilers, as well as last season’s MVP and former Patriots skipper Ali Kazingufu Kubwimana, eased past UGB, Patriots and APR to progress to the semi-finals. They will now face IPRC-Kigali, who finished second in Group B. The semi final matches are set for Wednesday at Amahoro Indoor Stadium. In their opening game on Friday, REG defeated UGB 84-26 before stunning defending champions Patriots on Saturday 68-39 and later, on Sunday, APR 70-51, to finish the preliminary fixtures top of the group. “We understand the importance of winning this tournament, most of our players have actually won it before with their other clubs, so we know how it feels, we have managed to win all our games so far and we want to continue this run until we lift the title,” said REG captain Kubwimana. Patriots progressed as runner-up after beating APR 53-26 and UGB 84-33 and will now face Espoir that finished top in Group B. Espoir also progressed unbeaten after defeating IPRC-Kigali 76-60, Cercle Sportif de Kigali (CSK) 66-35 and IPRC-South 82-59. Meanwhile, in the women category, which was played in a round robin format – comprised of only three teams, Ubumwe, APR and The Hoops Rwanda – will see Ubumwe and The Hoops lock horns in the last game. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Flying REG target Heroes Day title