Saturday APR vs IPRC- South (11am) Espoir vs U-18 Boys (1pm) Wednesday Patriots 71-68 UGB Patriots overcame league archrivals United Generation Basketball (UGB) in a hard fought 71-38 victory on Wednesday night to book a slot in the semi-finals of the ongoing Gisembe Genocide Memorial Tournament. It was a tough, entertaining and highly competitive game from beginning to the end. It took the 5-minute overtime for the champions, Patriots to get the crucial win after regular time had ended in a 61-61 draw. United Generation Basketball (UGB) started as the dominant side, narrowly claiming the first two quarters 11-9, 11-9 to go into half-time with a 22-18 lead. However, the white-and-blue outfits failed to keep the momentum, heavily losing the third quarter 23-8 before recovering to take the fourth quarter 31-20 to the level of 61-61 and force extra-time, which Patriots won 10-7 to become the first side to storm the semi-finals of the local GMT and subsequently qualified for the upcoming international showpiece. Henry Mwinuke’s side is through to the round of four as Pool B table leaders with six points, having won all their group matches against IPRC- South, APR and UGB respectively. Former Espoir duo of Aristide Mugabe and Elie Kaje, skipper Ali Kubwimana Kazingufu and Burundian international Jean de Dieu Ntagunduka played a pivotal role for the reigning champions to overcome UGB. The top two from each group will qualify for semi-finals and automatically book tickets for the forthcoming international GMT slated for June 10-12. The semi-finals of the local showdown will be played on June 5. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
