REG, IPRC-South crowned Heroes basketball tournament champions

Sunday: Men REG 54-51 Patriots Espoir 78-71 IPRC-South Women IPRC-South 79-77 APR U18 National Team 65-75 Ubumwe RWANDA Energy Group (men) and IPRC-South (women) were on crowned champions of the 2018 National Heroes Basketball Tournament that concluded on Sunday evening at Amahoro Indoor Stadium. REG claimed the title after overcoming archrivals Patriots in a narrow 54-51 win while IPRC-South stunned hopefuls APR in another hard fought 79-77 win to clinch the women’s title. Both champions walked away with trophies and Rwf 500.000 cash prize each. The clash between Patriots and REG was befitting of a final in-front of a fully packed Amahoro Indoor Stadium. Despite a promising first quarter 17-12 win for Patriots, REG responded quickly and never looked back, taking the remaining three quarters, 12-11, 16-12 and 14-11 respectively. Patriots’ Kenyan forward Michael Ongea Makiadi scored a game 23 points while Junior Aubin Kasongo, added 8 points. REG’s Rwanda international Kami Kabange posted 14 points and made 9 rebounds while Bienvenu Ngandu and Walter Nkurunziza contributed 9 and 8 points each. Espoir beat IPRC-South 78-71 on Saturday evening, finished second and pocketed Rwf300.000 while Patriots took third place. IPRC-South stunned hopefuls APR in another hard fought 79-77 win to clinch the women’s title. Espoir’s Pascal Niyonkuru was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) while Rwanda international Nicole Urwibutso of IPRC-South scooped the women’s award. In the women’s title-deciding game, APR’s Burundian small-forward Sandra Kantore posted a game 30 points but it was a team effort of Nicole Urwibutso (23 points), Joselyne Munyaneza (16 points) and Cecile Nzaramba (13 points) propelled IPRC- South to victory, dethroning Ubumbwe. APR finished second and walked away with Rwf 300.000. After the National Heroes Tournament, attention turns to the 2017/2018 league, which resumes on February 9 with the second round. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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REG, IPRC-South crowned Heroes basketball tournament champions