Playoffs Finals

Sunday

Men: Game Two

Patriots      67-68    Espoir

Women

Ubumwe   64-65    APR

Saturday

Game One

Espoir         74-81    Patriots

APR            65-61    Ubumwe

Basketball playoffs title holders Espoir bounced from Game One 81-74 defeat on Saturday to win Game Two 68-67 against Patriots on Sunday at Amahoro indoor stadium to level the bets of five Finals series 1-1.

Jean Bahufite’s Espoir claimed the first and third quarter 19-13 and 20-15 while debutants Patriots took the second and final quarter of Game Two 23-17 and 16-12 respectively.

Ally Kazingufu of Patriots scored the game high 21 points while Bienvenu Ngandu, Lionnel Hakizimana, Elie Kaje and Olivier Shyaka contributed 16, 15, 13 and 11 points for Nyamirambo-based Espoir.

Espoir are seeking a fourth consecutive regular and playoffs double and head coach Bahufite told Times Sport they had underestimated Patriots coming into Game One, but stressed his team will go into  Game Three on Friday with a different mindset.

He said, "May be we underestimated the opponent in Game 1, and also the closeness of Game 2 is a big lesson for us. We will come into Game 3 much more prepared mentally.”

In a separate interview, Patriots coach Cyrille Kalima acknowledged that a few unnecessary mistakes cost his side a win in Game Two, but believes the race is still wide open and urged his players to carry a positive and strong mentality into Game Three.”

In women’s finals, regular season league champions, APR are one win away from adding the playoffs title after beating rivals, Ubumwe in Game One 65-61 on Saturday and Game Two, 65-64 on Sunday.

In the third-place playoffs, APR lost 87-71 to CSK in Game One on Saturday but the army side was awarded Game Two without dropping a sweat after the later fielded an ineligible player.

In women’s category, The Hoops Rwanda lost Game One 62-54 to UR- CASS on Saturday but bounced back to claim Game Two 65-50 on Sunday.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw