PATRIOTS Basketball Club head coach Cyrille Kalima has challenged his players to be ambitious and aim higher ahead of the upcoming 2015/2016 season which starts on November 27. The league start will be preceded by a preseason tournament set for November 13-22.

Former Kigali Basketball Club (KBC) trainer, Kalima made the call during an interview with Times Sport on Tuesday.

"We are going to have a very long campaign, in fact our toughest. Last season (their first season since being formed), our target was to come in the top four but we excelled to finish second. That made us believe that we can actually challenge for the title,” Kalima said.

He further disclosed that the club has signed a number of experienced players and believes they will blend well with the younger players to deliver a strong challenge to the traditional giants, Espoir, CSK and APR.

Among the new signings is former Espoir skipper Aristide Mugabe (point-guard), his former teammate Elie Kaje and Jean Marie Uwiringiyimana from UR- College of Education (UR- CoE)

Kagugu-based Patriots enjoyed their maiden season to finish first runners-up both in regular season league and playoffs. The team will be looking to improve this time round.