Despite the pre-match hype, it turned out to be a singled-sided affair as former champions APR easily overcame arch-rivals Espoir 81-42 in the first round of the national basketball league over the weekend.

Kami Kabange topped the indomitable lions’ scoring chart with 15 points while ex-Espoir forward Karim Nkusi added 12 in the convincing win. Forward Jean Claude Bizimungu top scored for Espoir with10 points.

Elsewhere, defending champions Marine started their title defence in style with a sparkling 114-44 win over Kigali Institute of Education (KIE).

Vincent Mukuna had a game high 43 points while Mugisha and Sinarinzi added 13 points a piece. In the other game, last year’s finalists CSK A also went past the 100 mark as they thumped Basketball United Generation (BUG) 116-44.

CSK A’s shooting forward Gerol Ndugu peaked the scoring with 32 points to propel the club to their second victory in as many games and leave them joint leaders at the top of the league table alongside APR.

Ends