Sunday Men IPRC Huye 75-101 REG Trente Plus 58-44 IPRC Musanze Women The Hoops 59-22 UR Huye UR–CMHS 55-103 APR Holders Rwanda Energy Group (REG) basketball team have reached the last four of the 2019 National Heroes Cup tournament with a game to spare after winning their first two games in the group stage over the weekend. REG, winners of the annual tournament’s last two editions, booked their semi-finals ticket on Sunday following their blowout 101-75 win over IPRC–South. Henry Mwinuka’s side had started their quest for a third consecutive title on Saturday with another dominant 99-33 victory against struggling UR–Huye. “This is a promising start to our title quest,” said Maxime Mwiseneza, REG assistant coach. He added: “We are through to the semi-finals, but we want to progress as group leaders. So we are only halfway the task. The players have been fantastic so far, and we (coaches) have confidence in them to keep the momentum all the way to the title.” The 2016-17 league champions face United Generation for Basketball (UGB) in their final Pool A game, and their chances to retain the title have been boosted by the withdrawal of archrivals Patriots from the tournament on Friday. Last year’s finalists, Patriots, pulled out of the tournament after some of their new signings – including star guard Guibert Nijimbere – were allegedly denied to feature for the team. In other games on Sunday, Trente Plus beat IPRC Musanze 58-44 in men’s category, while, in women’s fray, APR humbled UR–CMHS 103-55 with Moise Mutokambali’s the Hoops Rwanda winning 59-22 over UR Huye. Across different disciplines, the Heroes Cup tournaments are organised by their respective federations in partnership with the Chancellery for Heroes, National Orders and Decorations of Honour (CHENO). Besides basketball, there have also been organised Heroes Cup events in cycling, football and handball to name a few. REG (men) and the Hoops Rwanda (women) were winners of the 2019 Heroes Cup basketball tournament.
