Giants Espoir, Patriots clash in hoops league

Friday Espoir vs Patriots 6pm Saturday CSK vs IPRC-Kigali 12pmAPR vs IPRC-South 2pm Sunday Men U18 Boys vs IPRC-South 10amUGB vs CSK 12pm Women IPRC-South vs APR 11am For the local basketball fans, all roads will Friday evening lead to Amahoro indoor stadium for the biggest game of the season between two title favourites Espoir and Patriots—the game starts at 6pm. It is a game between two unbeaten sides, who also went toe-toe for the whole of last season but it was Espoir, who prevailed for their fourth successive league and playoffs double. The winner of the highly anticipated game will top the table standings, at least for the next one week. Both sides jointly lead the table with maximum ten points each from five games with a 5:0 ratio. Should Henry Mwinuka’s Patriots win, they will become the first side to beat Espoir in regular league since last season in February 2015 when IPRC- Kigali stunned them 73-65 at KIST courts. “We are not focused on making history, we will be out there to play our usual game and enjoy ourselves… that’s what I told players to do. Espoir are a strong team, it’s going to be a tough game but I am confident we can win it,” Tanzania-born Mwinuka told Times Sport on Thursday. In a separate interview, Maxime Mwiseneza, interim coach of Espoir said, “This game is no exception from other league games, we will step on the court looking for a win and we have potential to overcome any opponent.” Last season, the Nyamirambo-based Espoir defeated Patriots in both first and return-leg league games before also overcoming their rivals 3-1 in the best-of-five play-off finals series to retain both titles for a record fourth successive time. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Giants Espoir, Patriots clash in hoops league