Sunday

Final

IPRC-South 100-47              UR-CST

3rd place play-off

UR-CASS      65-45               UR- Nyagatare

Saturday

Semi-finals

UR-CASS      51-71               IPRC-South

UR-CST        67-65               UR-Nyagatare

Shooting guard Bienvenu Niyonsaba scored a career high 35 points to lead IPRC-South to this year’s national inter-universities basketball title on Sunday at UR-CASS gymnasium.

Making only their second appearance in the annual competition, IPRC-South overwhelmed hosts University of Rwanda College of Arts and Social Sciences (UR- CASS) 71-51 in semi-finals on Saturday before trouncing UR- Nyagatare Campus 100-47 in the final on Sunday.

Led by Herve Ikishatse, Niyonsaba and new signing center-forward Fabrice Rukundo, the Huye-based Integrated Polytechnic Regional Center (IPRC) made a statement ahead of the 2015/16 season that starts on November 27.

"Our mission was accomplished, I’m thankful to players for a job well done. It’s a massive boost of confidence and motivation ahead of the upcoming basketball season, we are keen on replicating the performance and challenge for the league titles,” vowed IPRC-South coach Didier Bineza.

Charles Mushumba’s defending champions UR- CASS settled for the third place after overpowering underdogs UR - Nyagatare Campus 65-45. The latter lost 67-65 to UR- College of Sciences and Technology (UR- CST) in Saturday’s semi-finals.

IPRC-South finished fifth in their debut appearance in the national league last season, according to Bineza, their target for next season is to challenge for top honors.

Preseason tournament is slated for Nonember 13-22 while the league will begin on November 27. Jean Bahufite’s Espoir are the three-time reigning champions for both the regular season league and playoff title.