Sunday
Final Men REG 84-45 APR
Third place playoff Patriots 72-68 Espoir
APR Basketball Club will have to wait longer to win their first major silverware in years after being walloped by REG on Sunday at Petit Stade in Remera.
Rwanda Energy Group (REG) showed no mercy to the military side, brushing them aside 84-45 to win the local version of the 2018 basketball Genocide Memorial Tournament.
Shooting guard Patrick Nshizirungu posted a game high 24 points to guide Cyrille Kalima’s side to their second title of the season after their triumph in the National Heroes Tournament in February.
REG took control of the game right from start, winning the first quarter 20-15 before upping their dominance in the second quarter with an effortless 30-7 win, to go for break with a 50-22 lead.
Aime Karim Nkusi’s side did little to overturn or narrow the deficit in the third quarter, which REG also claimed by 18-13 before sealing the 84-45 emphatic win with 16-10 in the fourth quarter.
"We came into the competition with a purpose; this was a deserved victory for us. We take the memorial tournament very seriously, but it was also a good opportunity to bounce back after failure to retain the league title a fortnight ago,” REG Skipper Ali Kazingufu Kubwimana told Times Sport in a post-match interview.
DR Congolese-born Rwanda international Kami Kabange and Benjamin Mukengerwa contributed 12 and 10 points, respectively, while Eric Munyaneza (19), Brian Mbanze (8) and Jean de Dieu Ntagunduka (6) combined for a total 33 points for the military side.
Meanwhile, in the third place playoff, newly crowned league champions Patriots defeated Espoir in a closely contested 72-68 win.
In the women’s category, APR won the title despite losing their last game 48-61 to U18 National Team. On a round-robin basis of four teams in the contest, the female military side won two games and lost one.
The semi-finalists in the men’s category and all the four teams in their women’s category qualified for the regional version of the annual tournament, scheduled for May 25-27 in Kigali..
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