Finals Men Patriots 86-84 Espoir Women IPRC South 66-57 APR Veterans UGB 98-66 Patriots Patriots overcame Espoir to win the first edition of the Legacy Basketball Tournament with a narrow, and tightly fought, 86-84 victory at Amahoro Indoor Stadium on Sunday. Forward Steven Havugintwari and point guard Sedar Sagamba torched Espoir with 22 and 17 points, respectively, as Patriots overcame a 12-point first half deficit to lift the title. Noticeably a youthful side, Espoir who were powered by a 31-point performance from Burundi youngster Armel Sangwe, squandered the opportunity to be crowned as victors as both teams fought a tight battle in the final 30 seconds. With 21 seconds to time, Maxime Mwiseneza’s side led Patriots by 84-81. Six-time champions Espoir easily took the first quarter 21-14 before claiming the second one by 18-13 to go into half-time break with a 39-27 lead. However, Patriots bounced back to dominate the third quarter 40-27 and subsequently grabbed 67-66 lead going into the final quarter. Patriots fought hard to hold on to their narrow lead, rounding off with 19-18 in the fourth quarter. In the women’s category, league champions IPRC-South beat APR 66-57 to lift the trophy while tournament organisers United Generation Basketball (UGB) dominated Patriots 98-66 to win the title in the veterans’ category. On top of trophies as winners, Patriots and IPRC- South also won Rwf500,000 in cash prize each. The main purpose of the tournament was to remember and honour late Aimable Shampiyona and Jean de Dieu Nizeyimana, two iconic personalities who significantly contributed to the growth of basketball at Lycée de Kigali (LDK) and in the country, between 1995 and 2007. Largely regarded as a champion of sports, Shampiyona passed on in 2004 while Nizeyimana died in October 2007. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
