Women: Group A

APR                        vs            Scandinavia (DRC)            5pm

Men: Group A

Patriots                vs            REG                                         7pm

Group B

Espoir                     vs           IPRC-South                          7pm

Boundess (DRC) vs          Dynamo (Bdi)                    9pm

Saturday

Men: Group A

Patriots                 vs           PJB Goma (DRC)               10am

PJB Goma (DRC) vs          REG                                         6pm

Group B

IPRC-South          vs           Boundess (DRC)               10am

Espoir                    vs            Dynamo (Bdi)                    12pm

IPRC-South          vs           Dynamo (Bdi)                    7pm

Boundess (DRC) vs          Espoir                                    8pm

Women: Group A

Berco Stars (Bdi) vs         IPRC-South                          2pm

Group B

Scandinavia (DRC) vs      PJB Goma (DRC)               12pm

Veterans

Group B

Patriots                 vs           Bakolo (DRC)                      10am

Group A

UGB                        vs           30-Plus                            2pm

Defending champions Patriots begin the defence of the Genocide memorial regional basketball tournament against local rivals Rwanda Energy Group (REG) on Friday evening at Cercle Sportif de Kigali in Rugunga.

The three-day tournament, that starts today and runs until Sunday, will be played at different venues within the City of Kigali. Patriots are drawn in Group A along with REG and DR Congo’s PJB Goma.

Henry Mwinuka’s Patriots, who are also the reigning national league champions, had a disappointing outing in the local edition that was won by Espoir for a second year in a row after stunning REG 61-58 in the title game last Saturday.

The Kagugu-based side finished fourth after being knocked out in the semi-finals by Espoir 87-75 before losing to IPRC-South 65-58 in the third-place playoff game.

However, team captain Aristide Mugabe, says they are determined to make amends in the regional edition as they target to defend their title.

"The local tournament was a big lesson for us, we never played our usual game, we were not solid as we always are but we need to use the disappointment to try and do better this weekend,” said Mugabe.

He added that, "It is not going to be easy, especially against REG because only the top team in each group will progress to final but we have to beat them if we are to have the chance to retain our title.”

In another game, Espoir will be up against IPRC-South at Club Rafiki in Nyamirambo starting at 7pm, while Boundess from DR Congo will take on Dynamo at Cercle Sportif de Kigali at 9pm.

After Saturday’s games, the top teams from the two groups in the men, women and veterans’ categories will advance for Sunday’s finals, while the second-placed teams will face each other in the third-place playoffs.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw