National Basketball LeagueDay 1 resultsEspoir 63-61 KIEUGB 00-20 APRMarine 20-00 CSKUNR 20-00 Rusizi ESPOIR built a 12-point fourth quarter lead to shrug off a late comeback from Kigali Institute of Education (KIE) and post their first victory (63-61) in the 2009 National Basketball League which kicked off last Saturday. Jean Louis Habineza led the Nyamirambo based side with 14 points and six rebounds and after he said, “We played great basketball for three quarters.” “In the fourth quarter, we switched off and almost paid for it. We got a little content but we can not allow ourselves to not close games out,” he noted. KIE’s Daniel Kirenga scored a game high 20 points. Espoir are chasing for a play-off spot after missing out last year. “Our immediate target is to get to the play-offs and then get on from there,” the club’s coach Arsene Mukubwa noted. Mukubwa, who guided Espoir to the 2004 title (their last silverware) before traveling abroad for further studies, has great belief in the side. “We have brought in a couple of new players and we believe it’s only a matter of time before we start firing,” he said. Else where, defending champions APR, Marine and National University of Rwanda (UNR) also recorded victories. The trio walked away with default points after their opponents failed to show up. Ends
