CSK's Buzangu eyes regional Genocide Memorial tourney

Selected results Sunday Finals: Men CSK 57-55 Espoir Women Ubumwe 70-42 APR Veterans (Men) CSK 54-94 UGB FERWABA president Désiré Mugwiza hands over the trophy to CSK captain Buzangu on Sunday. (Courtesy) After stunning Espoir to win the local version on Sunday, Cercle Sportif de Kigali (CSK) captain Mike Buzangu has challenged teammates to win the regional Genocide Memorial Tournament scheduled for June 12-14 at Amahoro stadium. Playing at their home court in Rugunga, CSK socked the defending champions with a narrow 57-55 win, which was spearheaded by former Rwanda international Buzangu who scored a game high 21 points while Ghislain Bahati contributed 10 points for the hosts. Espoir’s shooting guard Lionnel Hakizimana and point guard Aristide Mugabe scored 17 and 15 points respectively. Espoir won the first two quarters 17-14, 20-12 before CSK bounced back to claim the third and fourth 19-11 and 12-7 respectively. In a post-match interview, Buzangu hailed his teammates for a job well done but warned them against complacency ahead of the regional tournament which starts on Friday. He noted, “We played good basketball to be able to overcome Espoir, we were resilient today. However, the regional tournament is around the corner, we need to get back to the training ground and prepare well. There is no room for complacency.” His Espoir counterpart, Mugabe admitted the morale was low on his side and noted that home advantage favored the winners but vowed the three-time reigning league champions will come back stronger in the regional competition. In women’s category, league champions Ubumwe routed APR 70-42 to retain the title while United Generation Basketball (UGB) Club thrashed CSK 95-54 to claim the veteran men’s category trophy. According to the Rwanda Basketball Federation (FERWABA), the regional event will attract teams from Uganda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya and hosts Rwanda. Last year, Espoir defeated Burundi’s Muzinga 85-48 to win the men’s crown while Belco Stars of Burundi beat Uganda’s Magic Stormers to grab the women’s title.

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CSK's Buzangu eyes regional Genocide Memorial tourney