Zone 5 Club Championship
Men’s Finals
Urunani (Burundi) 69-65 Cooperative Bank (Kenya)
Third place playoff
APR 79-89 KCB
Women’s finals
KPA (Kenya) 57-42 Berco stars (Burundi)
Third place playoff
KCC Leopards (Uganda) 60-52 Jeshi stars (Tz)

APR will not take part in next year’s Fiba-Africa Club Championship after a disappointing display in the just ended Zone 5 Club Championship in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The indomitable lions, as they are famously referred to, suffered a heartbreaking 69-68 defeat against Burundi’s Urunani in the semi-finals followed by a 79-89 loss against Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) in the third-place playoff.

Owour was quick to blame the Urunani defeat on injuries. "Injuries to Blaze Nikobahoze (point guard) and Presta Malemba (center) put us on the back foot. They are two of our best players and not having them out there took something out of our game,” the former Kenyan international said.

One positive for Owour however was the spirited display of youngster Igor Mugisha. The 20-year-old was one of the tournament’s best players after averaging 15 points per game.

With the Zone 5 tournament out of the way, APR will now focus on reclaiming the league title from Kigali Basketball Club (KBC). The army side is yet to lose a league game this season.

KBC finished 6th on debut.

Ends