HENRY Mwinuka has challenged his REG players to maintain momentum in the BK Basketball National League ahead of their clash against champions Patriots on Friday. Rwanda Energy Group (REG) basketball club have picked up maximum (four) points from their first two games in the new league season after dominating UGB and IPRC-Huye. The 2016/2017 champions, REG, humbled IPRC-Huye 109-59 in their opener on Saturday, January 18, before seeing off UGB 91-48 last weekend. Friday’s encounter will also be the first time Mwinuka faces Patriots in the league since departing the club for REG last November. In an interview on Tuesday, Tanzania-born Mwinuka said, “It will be tough being in the opposite dugout, but I will have to be up to it and fight for victory with my team. The (good) memories I have with Patriots won’t affect me in any way.” Ahead of the crunch between the country’s finest two sides, Patriots lead the table with five points and a 2:1 win ratio following their 85-80 defeat to IPRC-Kigali on Friday, January 17, before they recovered to win 64-57 against APR and 119-56 over Trente-Plus. “There will be a lot at stake; we want to stay unbeaten and Patriots certainly do not want to lose again. But, we are training hard and I hope the invested efforts will pay off,” added Mwinuka. “We must maintain the momentum from our first two games.” Then under Mwinuka’s guidance, Patriots clinched their third league title – in four seasons – last season after completing a historic comeback from a 3-1 deficit to edge REG 4-3 in the best-of-seven playoffs finals. Patriots went on to qualify for the inaugural Basketball Africa League (BAL) regular season after a perfect record through two qualification rounds after winning all their nine games.
