Integrated Polytechnic Regional Centre (IPRC-Kigali) basketball club coach Albert Bahuke has praised his players for their resilience and hard work that enabled the team to end Patriots unbeaten run in the national league this season.

Bahuke’s side fought gallantly to overcome the defending champions 80-75 on a weekend when youthful APR also shocked league leaders Espoir in a tightly contested game 71-70.

Speaking to Times Sport, Bahuke said he was thrilled with his fourth win of the season, "I congratulate my players for their performance against the champions, they showed that they can compete against the best.”

"We won because we played as a team. Patriots are the best team in the league and this win means that anything can happen this season,” Buhake noted.

IPRC-Kigali came into the game under pressure not to lose the second game having lost to Rwanda Energy Group (REG) 75-55 in the previous outing.

Patriot’s coach Henry Mwinuka admitted that, "We lost because they played badly, it’s that simple. As I said before, IPRC-Kigali are a very aggressive team and they showed that.”

Elsewhere, REG beat Integrated Polytechnic Regional Centre South (IPRC-South) 81-66 in the other game played over weekend.

The newly established side dominated first three quarters (19-13, 21-14 and 17-14) while IPRC-South claimed the fourth quarter 25-24.

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