Saturday

IPRC-Kigali 100-88 IPRC-South

INTEGRATED Polytechnic Regional Centre (IPRC)- Kigali head Coach Albert Buhake was full of praise for his players following a resounding victory against archrivals IPRC- South, which saw them snatch a fourth place to qualify for this year’s post-season Play-off Games.

The Kicukiro-based side overcame IPRC- South 100-88 on Saturday night at Amahoro Indoor Stadium to mark the official end of the 2017/18 StarTimes National Basketball League.

The two sister learning institutions entered this game both eligible for the ticket to playoff games with IPRC-South in the fifth place while IPRC-Kigali occupied the sixth place, each with 20 point. The win to either side was enough to leapfrog Espoir (21 points) in the fourth spot.

Jean Paul Ndoli contributed the game-high 20 points, 11 rebounds and one assist to inspire Buhake’s side to the most important victory of the season.

"I am really satisfied with how we performed today, but most importantly with how we ended the regular season. We didn’t have the best start of the campaign, and at some point a top four seemed a dream. But we managed to regroup and fought very hard as warriors,” Buhake told Times Sport in a post-match interview on Saturday.

The hosts, IPRC- Kigali, comfortably took the first two quarters 28-17 and 28-20 before their opponents stepped up their game to claim the third quarter 26-14. However, it was a short-lived moment as IPRC Kigali recovered to win the fourth quarter30-25, to land a top four finish.

"We are now going to start preparing for the playoffs – very intensively. Our target is to win the title and book ticket for the 2019 FIBA Africa Zone V Club Championship,” Buhake added.

By downing IPRC- South, IPRC-Kigali joined the league champions Patriots, first runners-up REG, and second runners-up APR to the four-team showdown.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw