APR head coach Karim Nkusi has warned his rivals that his team are still in the title race after a registering narrow victory over Patriots in the StarTimes Basketball National League last week.

 

The 7-time champions overcame Henry Mwinuke’s Patriots in a hard fought 65-64 victory and the military side is bidding for their first championship since 2010.

 

"Now more than ever the league title race is very tight, especially for my side that wants to dethrone giants like REG and Patriots. We have to play our part, winning all our remaining games to increase our chances of winning the title,” Nkusi said.

 

"The players displayed a high level of maturity and determination against Patriots and we want to build a winning momentum from there and focus on one game at a time. If we don’t win the league, we will put all the focus on the play-off games,” he noted.

 

Burundian international Jean de Dieu Ntagunduka, a former Patriots player, grabbed 18 points and contributed none rebounds to spur APR to the crucial win. Parfait Ishimwe and Eric Munyaneza added 13 and 11 points respectively.

 

DR Congo-born Aubin Junior Kasongo posted a game high 21 points for Patriots while point-guard Sedar Sagamba and Dieudonné Ndizeye contributed 12 and 11 points in that order.

 

After match-day 10, REG lead the league with 18 points, APR are second with 17 points, while Patriots are in third with 16 points but have played a game less.

 

Winless Rusizi are bottom of the eight-team table with 10 points.