Enabu hails City Oilers character as Ugandan sides breeze past hosts
Despite fouling out, Enabu was the difference on the day as Oilers edged past Rwandan side Espoir with a team high 24 points. PHOTO BY ISMAIL KEZAALA
What you need to know:
Basketball. The guard was a thorn in the flesh of the hosting Rwandan side Espoir with a team high 24 points and constant drives to the hoop. Another Ugandan side Power cruised past another Rwandan outfit CSK 70-64
KIGALI.
Rwandan side Espoir, the winners of the previous edition of Fiba Africa Zone V Club Championship, would obviously have wanted to pick an opponent they could easily make light work of.
As a privilege given to winners of previous editions, they had an option of choosing their first group opponents during the draws.
Their choice in opting for City Oilers instead brought out the best in the latter, who won 64-58. Faced with a similar option this time as a host club on Sunday, it was easy as to why they opted against it as Oilers beat them 93-88 in front of a full crowd at Amahoro Stadium’s court in Kigali, Rwanda on Tuesday evening. “We showed great character to comeback against a host club which probably makes the performance better than last year,” observed guard Jimmy Enabu.
His team high 24 points and constant drives to the hoop saw the largely partisan crowd breath a sigh of relief as he fouled out in overtime.
By then his team had taken the crowd through a roller-coaster show that saw the Oilers take a 14 point lead midway through before it was slashed by a 19-13 third quarter performance by Espoir. Key to it was a game high 32 point performance from Leone Hakizimana, whose three pointer at the buzzer tied the game at 78-all in a tense finale aggravated by some dubious calls. And with Kami Kabange fouling out with 19 points the hosts sensed victory.
But Landry Ndikumana 17 and 11 rebounds, plus Jeff Omondi’s 10 points, six of which came in the extra period, guided them through.
Remarkable night
The win marked a remarkable night for the Ugandan teams that also included KCCA’s 55-43 win over APR and Power’s 70-64 win over another Rwandan side CSK. A win today against Kenya’s Ulinzi, who have a win and a loss from their opening two fixtures will send through to the semifinals.
Fiba Africa Zone V Club Championship
Tuesday results - Men
Power 70-64 CSK (Rwa)
City Oilers 93-88 Espoir (Rwa)
Women
Ubumwe 58-77 Berco Stars
KCCA 55-43 APR (Rwa)
Past Winners since 2000
2000: Falcons (M), Ogopa (W)
2001: Vijana (M), KPA (W)
2002: APR (M), KPA (W)
2003: Ulinzi (M), JKT E.A (W)
2004: Postbank (M), Lady Bucks (W)
2005: KCB (M), Storms (W)
2006: KCB (M), KPA (W)
2007: APR (M), KPA (W)
2008: APR (M), KPA (W)
2009: Coop (M), KPA (W)
2010: Coop (M), Eagle Wings (W)
2011: Urunani (M), KPA (W)
2012: Espoir (M), Eagle Wings (W)
2013: Urunani (M), Eagle Wings (W)
2014: Urunani (M), USIU (W)
2015: ???
