Patriots upbeat ahead of playoffs

Today 3rd place playoffs, Game One UR-CASS vs The Hoops 10am (women) CSK vs APR 12pm (men) Finals, Game One APR vs Ubumwe 3pm (women) Espoir vs Patriots 5pm (men) Sunday 3rd place playoffs, Game Two The Hoops vs UR-CASS 10am (Women) APR vs CSK 12pm (men) Finals, Game Two Ubumwe vs APR 3pm (women) Patriots vs Espoir 5pm (men) Play-off games debutants, Patriots Basketball Club, will lock horns with title holders Espoir BBC when both giants square-off today in Game One of the best-of-five finals at Amahoro stadium at 5pm. Jean Bahufite’s three-time reigning champions Espoir and Cyrille Kalima’s newly formed Patriots BBC set up a date for finals after edging Cercle Sportif de Kigali (CSK) and APR in the best-of-three semi-finals last week. Talking to Saturday Sport in a telephone interview on Friday, Patriots tactician Kalima said his players are fit and ready to face Espoir in their battle for the first trophy of the season. “We are ready for the challenge. We are going to play our best basketball to dethrone three-time defending champions Espoir. It’s a tough call but the target is achievable,” the Former KBC head coach told this paper. In a separate interview, Espoir’s Bahufite said his players are equally up to the task. “My players are mature, experienced and are used to such pressures. We will retain the crown for a record fourth consecutive time.” This clash of titans will be preceded by Game One in finals of the women’s category between holders Ubumwe BBC and regular league champions APR at 3pm. All Game One fixtures today and Game Two fixtures tomorrow will be played at Amahoro indoor stadium.

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Patriots upbeat ahead of playoffs