Espoir have edged closer to retaining the national basketball league regular season title for the third time in a row after beating UGB and KBC over the weekend. Unbeaten in close to three seasons, Espoir won 83-48 over last year’s first runner-up Kigali Basketball Club on Saturday, before overcoming United Generation Basketball club 78-65 on Sunday. Both games were played at Amahoro indoor stadium in Remera, Kigali. Espoir stars Lionnel Hakizimana, Bienvenue Ngandu, Olivier Shayka and captain Arstide Mugabe played key roles in both wins. The two victories put the defending champions in pole position to retain the title following CSK’s failure to beat Rusizi and APR’s defeat to UGB. “I’m really grateful to my players, they give up,” Espoir’s coach Jean Bahufite told Times Sport after Sunday’s game against UGB. As it stands, Espoir lead the pack with 32 points from 16 matches, CSK with 29 points come in second position, while APR are third with28 points. Sunday Espoir 78-65 UGB Rusizi 71-47 CSK KBC 74-52 UR-CoE Saturday Rusizi 81-37 30-Plus KBC 48-83 Espoir UR-CoE 46-71 Gisenyi APR 58-62 UGB
