Oilers, Betway Power meet in Zone V warm-up

KAMPALA. The Fiba Africa Zone V Club Champions Cup does not start until Sunday when up to 19 teams are expected to make the trip to Kampala.
But as the National Basketball League returns at the Lugogo Arena this evening, the two games lined up will have a feel of the zonal championships.
All four Uganda’s representatives are in action with City Oilers and Betway Power facing off after perennial rivals UCU Lady Canons and KCCA Leopards clash.
“We have not played in two weeks so we want to get into competition mode,” Power coach Arnold “Mchuda” Lando said of the fixture.
He however did acknowledge there are risks involved in playing the reigning champions 48 hours to the start of the week-long Zone V event.
“Some people have raised the injury issue and visiting teams but you just have to focus on the positive aspects,” Mchuda added.
There is a general feeling within City Oilers that they could have done without this fixture having also played on Wednesday in the 88-50 win over Nkumba Marines. “The game is on the fixture list so we will honour it,” City Oilers Muhammad Santur stated.
Unlike Power, they have the luxury of three vastly experienced players in A’Darius Pegues, Robinson Odoch and Stanley Ocitti who will bolster their roster for the Zone V Championship.
Domestically, Wednesday’s result left them with a 10-3 record compared to Power’s 13-4 sequence.
The women’s game promises to be similarly intriguing with unbeaten KCCA Leopards seeking to extend their 13-0 unbeaten start against champions UCU Lady Canons whose only blemish in a 12-1 record is against today’s opponents. Something will have to give.