Ndejje, UPDF face off in relegation six-pointer

With the National Basketball League regular season edging closer to its conclusion, the battle for places could not have been more intense.

Teams in the lower half of the table are in a fight to get into the playoffs, while others have relegation to worry about.

The magic number of wins this season seems to be eight, and teams below that are now faced with a relegation monster staring at them.
 
Ndejje University Angels is one of the teams struggling to fend off the monster but lost 102-99 to KCCA Panthers in one of the most exciting games of the season Wednesday night at YMCA.

Ndejje had been in the news after having their wins against City Oilers and Our Savior rescinded.

The team had been accused of using South Sudanese point guard Gatwang Thuok with no clearance from the federation, and the forfeitures had them rooted at the base of the log with a 5-11 record.

But there was good news for the university side following a successful appeal that took them to seven wins and also saw Thuok cleared to play against KCCA.

Thuok responded with 32 points against KCCA, but these were not enough as the Panthers held on for a big victory to leave Ndejje in the relegation skirmish.

One more win could be enough to see Ndejje pull away from the red zone, and head coach John Omondi will be hoping to get big performances from Samuel Ajak, who poured in 30 against KCCA, and Joseph Kumbai, who had 16.

In UPDF Tomahawks, the Angels come up against a team that cannot afford any more losses.

With just six wins, UPDF must win their last two games, starting tonight, before ending the regular season against Rezlife, to get to eight wins.

In their remaining games, Ndejje still have to face Rezlife Saints and Kampala Rockets. 

National Basketball League

Results

M -KCCA 102-99 Ndejje

W -Stormers 45-93 JKL

Playing Friday (Lugogo)

W -KIU vs. JT Jaguars -7pm

M -UPDF vs. Ndejje -9pm