Shooting guard Kenneth Gasana and point guard Sedar Sagamba combined for a total 38 points as Patriots posted a 113-61 rout over Tanzania side JKT on Tuesday night.

It was the two sides’ first game at the ongoing Basketball Africa League (BAL) final round qualifiers at Kigali Arena, which runs from Tuesday till Sunday.

Patriots set the pace very fast for JKT to catch up as they grabbed a 34-17 first quarter lead, and they never slowed down. 

The first-half ended 58-28 before Francis Odhiambo’s men also claimed the two second period quarters, 24-16 and 31-17, respectively.

Sagamba came off the bench to contribute 17 points to the emphatic win, while Gasana led the team with 21 points. 

In what looked more of a training session over the helpless Tanzania champions, Patriots’ American-born forward George Wilbert Blakeney notched the only double-double of the game with 14 points and a game-high 17 rebounds. 

In other games, Madagascar outfit GNBC survived a late scare to beat Zambia’s UNZA Pacers 78-75 in the tournament’s opener, before Ferroviario of Mozambique edged South Sudan’s Cobra Sports 74-59 in the second game.

Of the eight teams in the week-long competition, only the top three will earn tickets to the highly anticipated inaugural BAL regular season that tips off March 2020.

Patriots face UNZA Pacers in their second game on Wednesday, starting at 8pm.

Meanwhile, Kenyan giants KPA are expected in the country Wednesday afternoon after missing their first game against City Oilers on Tuesday.