Sunday Men IPRC Huye 65-78 APR IPRC Kigali 104-50 IPRC Musanze Patriots 77-48 Espoir Women IPRC Huye 73-57 The Hoops Ubumwe 74-70 APR Former local giants APR basketball club have started their campaign in the BK Basketball National League bubble with victory after outclassing IPRC-Huye on Sunday at Kigali Arena. Shooting guard Armel Sangwe starred with 17 points as the army side beat IPRC-Huye 78-65. New signing Kevin Ndahiro contributed 15 points to the win. However, IPRC-Huye’s Eric Muhayumukiza scored a game-high 21 points and 17 rebounds. APR, once a dominant side on local scene and in the region, have not won the league title since 2010, but club legend Aime Karim Nkusi – and current head coach – is confident this could be ‘a perfect time’ to end their title jinx. In a post-game interview, Nkusi said: “This was a tough game and well-deserved victory. When we were losing a lot of balls in the second quarter, I called a timeout and reminded the players that we needed to box out and pick rebounds. We need to start faster in the games ahead.” The black-and-white side took the first quarter 21-20, but IPRC-Huye recovered to go into half-time break with a slight 40-36 lead. Coming for the second half, APR noticeably dominated on the offense and were more organised defensively as they took the final two quarters 24-19 and 17-7, respectively. In a separate interview, IPRC-Huye manager Charles Mushumba conceded that “we made some mistakes in the third quarter and they cost us a win. We have to reorganise and get back stronger for the second game tomorrow [Monday].” Mushumba’s side face former champions Espoir in their second game on Monday, starting at 3:30pm. Kigali Arena is the sole venue for the games. In other games, IPRC-Kigali got off to a winning start with a resounding 104-50 win over IPRC-Musanze, while reigning champions Patriots proved too strong for Espoir with a 77-48 win. In the women’s league; IPRC-Huye downed the Hoops Rwanda 73-57, with Ubumwe overcoming APR 74-70 in overtime after the regular time had ended 63-63.
