SaturdayIPRC-Kigali 139-58 CSK

FridayEspoir 90-71 APRPatriots 68-78 REG

Patriots Basketball Club head coach Henry Mwinuka insists that despite the defeat against fellow title contenders Rwanda Energy Group (REG) on Friday night, the race is still wide open and that his team are still favourites to retain the regular season crown.

The reigning champions suffered their second defeat of the season at the hands of newly established Rwanda Energy Group (REG) 68-78.

Center Kami Kabange once again showed off his vast experience and quality on the field as he scored a game high 21 points to guide Jean Bahufite’s side to victory and boosted their chance to win their first competitive trophy in their maiden season.

REG closed the gap to one point on top, Patriots lead with 24 points; however, the former, who had played a game less, had a golden opportunity to climb to the top on Sunday if they could manage to get victory from their game in hand against IPRC-South.

"We played a good game and to a large extent had it in our hands to win it, but we committed a lot of technical errors and some dodgy refereeing also affected our concentration and it handed advantage to our opponents to fight back,” said Mwinuka.

He added, "However, we will not give up, the race is still open, we have five games remaining and we have to win them. REG have tough games coming up and they can stumble at some point, so we should be ready to take advantage in case they slip up.”

In other games on Friday, 2015 champions Espoir beat former champions APR 90-71 to keep their title hopes alive. Espoir are third with 23 points while APR remains fifth on 18 points.

On Saturday, Heroes’ Day Tournament reigning champions IPRC-Kigali overwhelmed bottom side Cercle Sportif de Kigali 139-58 to boost their chances to finish in the top four to participate in the playoffs. They are currently fourth with 20 points.

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