APR basketball club head coach Mazen Trakh has said that the past two warmup games against Egypt’s Al Ittihad Alexandria have given him valuable insights into his players’ level of performance ahead of the upcoming Basketball Africa League (BAL).

APR and played two friendly matches with Al Ittihad at STECOL basketball court located at the Special Economic Zone in Masoro, as the former prepares to represent Rwanda in BAL regular season in Dakar, Senegal, in May.

The army side narrowly defeated Al Ittihad 77-76 on Saturday, March 23 before the Egyptians bounced back to win the second friendly match with 77-72 score on Monday, March 25.

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Trakh, who is using warmup games to assess his players before naming his final roster to Dakar, commended the opponent’s test which, he said, gave his men a feel of what BAL opposition will be like.

"We won one close game and lost another by a narrow margin. These matches provided valuable insights into the level of competition we can expect in BAL. If Al Ittihad is any indication, the competition will be fierce, with teams of this caliber,” the American tactician said.

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APR is scheduled to play two more warm-up games against Central African Republic side Bangui Sporting Club next week.

The Rwandan champions were placed in the Sahara Conference, which will take place from May 4-12 in Dakar, Senegal. They will be vying for two automatic tickets for BAL playoffs and finals in Kigali against Conference rivals US Monastir of Tunisia, AS Douanes of Senegal, and Nigerian champions Rivers Hoopers.