Nam Blazers fall, again

Namuwongo Blazers suffered a second straight defeat on Sunday, falling 65-60 to Kampala Rockets at the Lugogo Indoor Stadium.

Having lost their 16-game unbeaten streak in a 62-61 to the UCU Canons Friday night, the Blazers were unable to make an immediate return to winning ways.

The Blazers paid the price for a sluggish start to the game that saw the Rockets lead by double digits early in the first quarter.

At the end of the first half, Rockets carried a 15-point advantage (42-27) and left the Blazers with a huge mountain to climb in the third and fourth quarter.

Head coach Stephen Nyeko made changes to his line up, with Moses Mugisha, Peter Obleng and Arthur Wanyoto all starting.

Tonny Drileba, James Okello and Innocent Ochera all started on the bench.

Shooting guard Brian Opiyo set the tone for the Rockets in the first two quarters, with his hot hand from deep keeping the scoreboard ticking.

The Blazers fought back in the third quarter and sliced the deficit to just eight points (50-42) into the last quarter of the game but it was the Rockets who were calm and composed down the stretch to close the game.

A 10-1 Blazers run to start the fourth quarter saw them lead 52-51 but the Rockets’ paint presence came in handy, with Puati Ozias Kikomba, Christian Ndibu and Juf Mpiya cleaning the glass and making huge free throws.

Opiyo was four-for-eight from beyond the arc and registered a game-high 22 points to lead the charge for Daniel Juuko’s charges. He added six rebounds on the night.

Gideon Kasasa contributed 14 points, two rebounds and two assists while Christian Ndibu had nine points and 13 rebounds.

Kikomba dominated the boards with 14 rebounds while Mpiya got 10 points and five rebounds.

For the Blazers, only Ochera (13) and Drileba (10) managed to reach double figures in scoring on a night the team shot 23-for-73 from the field.

With the victory, Rockets improved to an 11-7 record and are fourth on the log. The Blazers, with a 16-2 record, are still top of the log and expected to end the regular season as top seed.

In the other hotly contested game on Sunday, defending champions City Oilers escaped a scare with a slim 75-72 win over Rezlife Saints.

Christopher Omanye’s game-high 24 points was not enough for Rezlife as Oilers got over the line to record only their eighth win of the season.

Mer Maker scored 20 points and gathered eight rebounds while Fayed Baale recorded 14 points, four rebounds and six assists for the 10-time champions. 

National Basketball League

Results

Women

UPDF 65-91 JKL

Angels 43-32 Nkumba

Men

KIU 69-77 UCU

Rezlife 72-75 Oilers

Blazers 60-65 Rockets