Peter Sifuma: Our bond is our strength

UCU Canons ended their first round with a hard-fought 64-56 win over JKL Dolphins at MTN Arena, Lugogo, Friday night.
Key in that win was big man Peter Sifuma, who poured in 20 points and gathered 13 rebounds be named Tusker Lite Player of the Fame.
The centre has been pivotal in UCU’s games and often steps up when either of Fadhil Chuma and Titus Lual Odeke is struggling. It was Lual who struggled to get going on Friday but Sifuma’s presence in the paint troubled JKL.

Strong bond
The Canons ended the first round with an 11-1 record and will stay top of the table going into the second round. 
Sifuma told Daily Monitor that the chemistry within the team is what has seen them get to the top and maintain their good performance.

“There is a strong bond on this team,” he said. “We are ready to fight all the way to the championship.”
To win the championship though, the Canons must deal with the tough challenge that comes with dislodging City Oilers, a team that has dominated the league in the last seven seasons and defeated the university side in game seven of the 2019 finals.
“We lost to Oilers (in 2019) because they played better in that final game, not that we played badly ourselves,” Sifuma said.

Focused since day one
Sifuma has clearly been putting in work. His mid-range shot has greatly improved and he can now put the ball down and push the team on a fast break after collecting a rebound.
He puts that to the hard work they put in as a team.
“From the beginning of the season, we have been training hard. It’s no wonder we’re putting up a show like this,” he said. “We want to keep our top position, going top may not be hard but the tricky bit is maintaining it and that’s why we take every game very serious.”

Sifuma dedicated his award to his teammates. “This is all about the team, everyone is putting in work. We have a strategy; we hustle on rebounds, run, try to shoot well and minimize turnovers.”
Nicholas Natuhereza’s charges had to dig deep for the win as JKL stayed close throughout the game. If the Dolphins were ready for whatever they got, their centre Mabor Makol wasn’t. 
He put up a strong performance and got a game high 23 points.

Sam Obol’s charges led 31-29 at the half with Brian Namake connecting from distance to end the half.
 Jerry Kayanga and Chuma contributed 13 and 12 points, respectively, as the Mukono outfit went on to register yet another win and confirm top spot.
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Nat. Basketball League
Weekend results – WOMEN
KIU     71-74     JKL
Miracle     83-62     A1 Challenge
KCCA     50-30     Nkumba
MEN
Royals     65-76     Nam Blazers
UCU     64-56     JKL
KIU     65-64     KCCA