Ugandan star Melissa Akullu and Lauren Baumgartner did the heavy lifting in the decisive fourth period, leading the Vanguard University women’s basketball team to a 53-45 road victory over Menlo on Saturday at Haynes-Prim Pavilion.

The duo combined to score 17 of the team’s 20 points in the fourth as the Lions overcame a one-point deficit entering the final 10 minutes.

Both players finished with 18 points – and Akullu pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season. Baumgartner added a season-high tying nine boards, five assists and four steals.

Vanguard University held a 49-38 edge on the glass, turning 19 offensive caroms into a 13-8 advantage in second chance points.

Menlo came in having averaged 84.6 points in three previous conference games. The Lions held the Oaks 39 points below their average. Menlo shot just 31.0 (18-of-58) percent from the field.

The Lions also impacted the game at the free throw line, hitting on 17-of-22 overall and taking 18 more attempts than the Oaks.

Defense, rebounding and free throw shooting masked Vanguard University’s shooting struggles. The Lions managed just 27.1 (16-of-59) percent field goal efficiency, including 21.1 (4-of-19) percent from distance.

Menlo received a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds from Kiara Brown. Vivian Woo added 15 points and seven boards.

Vanguard scratched out the win with only seven players. Four of five Lions that started played at least 33 minutes in helping the team improve to 6-1 overall and 2-1 in the Golden State Athletic Conference.

Menlo fell to 5-5 overall and 2-2 in conference action.

Jane Asinde has been named the American Athletic Conference (ACC) Player of the Week.

The Wichita State Shockers forward had a huge weekend in Los Angeles against the University of Montana and Loyola Marymount University.

Asinde averaged 21 points, 17 rebounds, 2.5 blocks, and a steal while shooting nearly 60 percent from the field in Wichita State’s two wins.

The Ugandan star had a 20-point and career-high 19-rebound double-double in the 78-69 overtime win over the Lady Griz on Friday.

Asinde has played four games so far this season and has a double-double in three games.

City Oilers have qualified for the Basketball Africa League after beating Urunani to book the last ticket to the 2023 season.

The Oilers won the third-place match 71-62 at the Ellis Park Arena in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Ugandan champions led 17-12 after the first quarter but their lead was cut to just a point at halftime.

After the long break, Mandy Juruni’s charges remained in character and held on to win by 9 points.

Germaine Roebuck Jr put his struggles in the semifinals behind him and led the way with a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds.

“It’s emotional right now because we worked so hard to get here. Now we have finally done it. Today I started a little slow, but I knew could not let my team down. So when the second half came, I knew I had to come out aggressively in the game,” Roebuck said in the aftermath.

Fayed Baale rose to the occasion off the bench to contribute 12 points to go with 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Big man Ngor Banarba also contributed 12 points.

“I am happy and proud of my players. The work that we have put in over the last three years has finally paid off,” Mandy Juruni told FIBA.

“In-game, I looked at my bench a bit more. In the Semifinal against the Tigers, our top guys played heavy minutes, and you could see they were not at their best. So we needed guys to come off the bench, and they gave us good minutes.

“The win means a lot for our country. Ugandan basketball has been on the rise at the national team level. Now we are going to play in a top league in Africa,” Juruni added.

City Oilers will have to win the 3rd-place playoff game against Urunani on Sunday, 27th November to qualify for Basketball Africa League 2023.

East African sides lost their respective semifinal fixtures on Saturday, 26th November, and have now a chance to redeem themselves.

Oilers lost to hosts Cape Town Tigers 69-75 in a closely contested Elite 16 Division East semifinal as the Burundians fell to Ferroviario Beira.

The Ugandan champions will feel hard done by their free throw shooting where they were 3-for-11 and defensive execution down the stretch as they allowed back-to-back 3-pointers from Dhieu Deng.

Falando Jones was unstoppable, pouring in 40 points (more than half of the team’s total) but the rest of the players failed to show up on the offensive end.

Ngor Barnaba (10 points) was the other Oiler to score in double figures. Germaine Roebuck had 6, Uche Nnamdi and Titus Lual had 4 each while James Okello and Jimmy Enabu combined for just five points.

 

City Oilers are close to qualifying for the Basketball Africa League (BAL) 2023.

The National Basketball League champions have secured two wins in their group at the ongoing Division East qualifying tournament at Ellis Park Arena in Johannesburg, South Africa.

By winning the two games, the Oilers qualify for the semifinal of the tournament and now need to finish in the top 3 to qualify for BAL 2023.

On the tournament opening day (Tuesday), the Oilers beat COSPN of Madagascar 71-59 with Germaine Roebuck Jr netting a game-high 17 points. Falando Jones and Titus Odeke came in handy with 15 and 11 points respectively.

In their second game on Wednesday afternoon, City Oilers beat Matero Magic of Zambia 83-73 with Falando Jones and Germain Roebuck combining for 50 points. Jones scored 26 points while Roebuck added 24 points in the win that sealed a semifinal place for the team.

Titus Odeke, Uchechi Ogbonna, and Ngor Barnaba contributed 9 points each.

Next Up

City Oilers will face Ferroviario Beira in the last group game on Thursday at 5:30pm (EAT) in a match-up whose winner will top the pool. The Mozambique side has also won two games, against Matero Magic (63-57) and COSPN (84-53).

City Oilers will have another chance at playing for a place in the 2023 Basketball Africa League (BAL) having made the Elite 16.

The Ugandan champions defeated Tanzanian side Army Basketball Club (ABC), 71-63, on Sunday night in a Group C game played at Mkapa National Indoor Stadium in Dar es Salaam.

Germaine Roebuck (Oilers) and Baraka Athumani (ABC) poured in 31 points each. Roebuck, who was named the player of the game, pulled down six rebounds, three assists and swiped seven steals.

The first quarter was an offensive exhibition from the Ugandans who won 27-20 but ABC was better in the second quarter closing the gap to just 2 points despite falling back to 10 points as Oilers’ offense stalled.

Oilers had a slim 53-52 lead at the end of the third quarter but Athumani took the game to City Oilers scoring seven points the hosts took a 59-53 lead.

Three 3-pointers from City Oilers from Tony Drileba (2) and James Okello swang the game and after that, it was all about game control.

The win meant Oilers join Urunani who completed the group unbeaten at the Elite 16 (Group F) that will be played in November.

Elite 16

City Oilers’ Road to BAL 2023 leads them to Cape Town, South Africa next where they will compete for a slot in the lucrative stage of Africa’s premier club basketball competition.

In Group F, Oilers will take on Cape Town Tigers (hosts), Ferroviário da Beira (Mozambique), Cobra Sport (South Sudan), Urunani (Burundi), COSPN (Madagascar), KPA (Kenya), and NBA Academy Africa.

The top three teams in the group will play in the 2023 Basketball Africa League. The other group of the Elite 16 will be hosted in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

Uganda’s continental representatives City Oilers beat Tanzanian side Army Basketball Club (ABC) to qualify for the Elite 16 of the Basketball Africa League.

Playing a do-or-die match, Oilers edged the hosts 71-63 in a closely contested game played on Sunday night at the Benjamin Mkapa Indoor Stadium in Dar es Salaam.

The result took Oilers to two wins in three games and finish second in the group to join Burundi’s Urunani in the next phase of qualifiers.

The Elite 16, which is the last round of qualifiers for next year’s Basketball Africa League, will be played in Cape Town, South Africa from 22nd-27th November.

Mande Juruni’s men looked to be cruising after taking the first quarter 27-20 but the hosts slowly came back into the contest and were down by just two points heading into the long break.

Oilers led by just a point after the third quarter and trailed by five points at one stage in the fourth but the eight-time national league winners showed grit. Tonny Drilleba knocked down a three to see his side regain their lead and the Oilers held on for a needed win.

Germaine Roebuck, one of City Oilers two new additions, led the way with a joint-game-high 31 points, adding six rebounds and seven steals.

Burundian side Urunani are all but through to the second round of the BAL Qualifiers (Elite 16) after beating City Oilers on Saturday.

Led by their backcourt of Michael Bwanga Kazunguzibwa (21 points) and Guibert Nijimbere (15 points) with help from skipper Landry Ndikumana, Urunani edged Oilers 64-58 at the Benjamin Mkapa Indoor Stadium.

The trio, two of whom are familiar with Ugandan basketball, combined for 50 points with the rest of the team scoring 14.

City Oilers got their Road To BAL campaign off to a great start with a 90-54 victory over  Zambian side Matero Magic on Friday in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Germaine Roebuck led the Oilers with 26 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists.

The first quarter ended tied 19-19 but later Oilers figured out things and broke away in the second which they won 24-09 to establish a 15-point lead.

And the Oilers comfortably dominated the floor from there on and sealed a deserved 36-point game against the Zambian 10-time league winners.

It was a delight for coach Mande Juruni whose roster has just nine players. He will be impressed with the performance of the two US-based additions, especially Roebuck.

The stern test is ahead, particularly from Burundi’s Urunani who are next on their menu on Saturday.

BAL Qualifiers | Results & Fixtures

Friday, October 28

• ABC (Tanzania) 70-45 Urunani (Burundi)
• City Oilers (Uganda) 90-54 Matero Magic (Zambia)

Saturday, October 29

• Urunani (Burundi) Vs City Oilers (Uganda) – 4:30pm
• ABC (Tanzania) Vs Matero Magic (Zambia) – 7pm

Sunday, October 30

• Matero Magic (Zambia) Vs Urunani (Burundi) – 4:30pm
• City Oilers (Uganda) Vs ABC (Tanzania) – 7pm

Sunday Results

• W: UCU Lady Canons 69-57 JKL Lady Dolphins (Series tied 3-3)
• W: City Oilers 71-76 Nam Blazers (Series tied 3-3)

The National Basketball League Playoff Finals in both the men’s and women’s divisions have come down to a Game 7.

Nam Blazers and UCU Lady Canons completed their comebacks from 3-1 down to even up the series at 3-3 on Sunday with impressive performances.

Namuwongo overcame a slow start that saw them fall behind by 10 points in the first quarter. They closed the gap before the end of the period and took the lead in the third quarter and never looked back

Amisi Saidi scored a game-high 27 points going 8-of-18 from the field before getting ejected from the game, Chris Omanye had 15 points and 10 rebounds to be named player of the game while Paul Odongo contributed 14 points in an impressive performance.

James Okello (17), Ivan Muhwezi (13) and Tonny Drilleba (11) scored in double digits for the Oilers but it proved not enough.

In the Women’s Division, UCU recovered from a 14-point halftime deficit to beat JKL Lady Dolphins to send the series to a decider.

JKL, who have won the last two titles, led 33-19 at halftime before going cold for the rest of the game on both ends of the court.

Millicent Otieno had 20 points to lead the Lady Canons while Bridget Aber and Rose Akon added 15 points each.

Evelyn Nakiyinji scored 15 points and had 8 boards in a losing effort for the Lady Dolphins. Brenda Ekone had 12 points and 8 rebounds.