By Doreen Umutesi
Saturday
APR 77-73 CSK
UNR 88-79 Espoir
Rusizi 79-94 KBC
Sunday
UNR 74-85 KBC
UGB 49-55 KIE
Rusizi vs Espoir (PP)
Over the weekend APR beat their closest rivals CSK one just a point (77-73) to move a step closer to retaining their national basketball league crown.
This loss, the second of the season for the Ruguga based side, could affect their hopes of wrestling the league crown from the army side. CSK, have 22 points with a game in hand, also lost to fellow title challengers KBC in the first round.
Defending champions, APR top the championship table with 24 points in 13 games compared to second placed KBC, who moved ahead of CSK on points’ difference. KCB beat their Southern Province opponents Rusizi 94-79.
Cliff Owour, the head coach of APR was impressed with the way his team was able to contain CSK, who dominated the first quarter 19-15 and also won the first round fixture quiet easily.
“It was an important game and our high confidence helped us win it. They (CSK) are a good side and they showed it throughout the game on Saturday but were simply better than them,” noted the ex-Kenyan international.
Meanwhile, in the women league, defending champions APR beat the National University of Rwanda (NUR) 69-47 and followed it with another convincing 69-37 win over G.S Karubanda on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
The champions lead the table with 12 points from six games, NUR is second with eight.