National Basketball League | Results

• JT Lady Jaguars 70-62 KCCA Leopards
• Nam Blazers 109-93 UCU Canons

Nam Blazers secured a well-deserved 109-93 victory against UCU Canons in the National Basketball League encounter at Lugogo Indoor Arena on Friday.

It was a real thrilling experience of a Friday night basketball game as both were emphatic on the offense keeping the fans on their feet throughout the game.

It was a quick game from the word go though it ended even at 25-25 after the first quarter.

However, Blazers finally found their spark in the second quarter leading the second quarter by 10 points (31-21).

Joseph Chuma was so impressive in the first two periods of the game dropping 22 points before the long break.

Canons turned up strong rotating the ball the find a wide shot but they failed to keep into the game giving away two easy turnovers in the last minutes thus trailing by seven at the end of the third quarter.

Blazers kicked off the final quarter in the desired mood with Peter Cheng’s long shot and it was only but the start of the scoring party.

Blazers had four players scoring in double digits; Joseph Chuma (33), Jimmy Williams (22), Peter Cheng (17 and Micheal Makiadi (11).

Canons equally had four players dropping double digits; Ibanda Lwabaga (24), Kevin Kasobya (19), Peter Sifuma (17), and Joel Kayira (10).

NBL Fixtures | Friday, May 24

• JT Lady Jaguars vs KCCA Leopards – 7:00 pm
• Nam Blazers vs UCU Canons – 9:00 pm

UCU Canons will lock horns with Namuwongo Blazers tonight in the National Basketball League at Lugogo Indoor Arena in Kampala.

Blazers will be seeking to avenge the Canons having lost the first-round encounter 65-53 in a thrilling but tight game.

Canons head coach Nicholas Natuhereza has rallied his troops to turn up with confidence and try and put up a good game.

“We have prepared well and I am confident we shall play a good game. Yes, the campaign has not been the best but we always look at improving,” he said.

“We are going to play a good team and we respect that but we are ready for the challenge. The players are in a good mood and we have no injuries,” he added.

Blazers come into this game with a hot form having won five games in a row since the loss against the Mukono-based side.

Out of the 16 games played thus far, the Blazers have secured 13 victories and have lost only thrice unlike the Canons who have six losses on their report card.

Blazers’ camp will be excited about the return of Jimmy Williams. The American guard joins the Blazers having impressed in the second round of last season.

His arrival adds more quality to the Blazers’ roaster but also ignites the confidence in the camp knowing they can challenge for the championship.

In the Women, JT laddy Jaguars will be daring KCCA Leopards in the first game of the Friday Hoops action.

Having won the first-round encounter 65-53, KCCA Leopards will seek to continue with their impressive campaign by picking a double against the Lady Jaguars.

KCCA Leopards have been boosted by the return of shooting guard Margaret Bagaala who has been away with NIC that lifted the East Africa Netball Championship title.

The Federation of Uganda Basketball Associations (FUBA) has officially launched the FIBA Africa U18 Zone V Qualifiers which shall be hosted at the MTN Arena in Lugogo.

The tournament to be played in both categories (boys and girls) will run from 9^th to 14^th June 2024.

Ten (10) countries have already confirmed their participation in the week-long event. Uganda will be joined by Kenya, Somalia, Rwanda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Eritrea, Burundi, Ethiopia, and Sudan.

“The goal for both our teams is to qualify for the main event in South Africa with only one ticket available for the winner of this Zone V preliminaries,” Hudson Ssegamwenge, the head of the LOC and also the VP Administration FUBA, said of the targets.

“Aside from preparations that have been ongoing already, the teams will start residential camping this week before we tip off for the tournament,” Ssegamwenge added.

Uganda’s teams started preps last year with the first training camp held at KIU in Kansangaa with over 200 players.

“Our preparation has been immense, we started last year (2023). At the moment, I’d like to say that we are complete; we are only going to add one player,” John Omondi, the Head Coach of the U-18 Girls’ National team, said.

NBL Results | Wednesday, May 15

• KCCA Panthers 83-91 Namuwongo Blazers
• Miracle Ravens 63-71 Magic Stomers (OT)

Namuwongo Blazers secured their fifth straight victory in the ongoing 2024 National Basketball League.

Namuwongo Blazers registered a 91-83 victory against KCCA Panthers in a thrilling game of basketball played at YMCA Court in Wandegeya.

Daniel Gaaki sealed the opening quarter with a shot from downtown as Namuwongo Blazers led the first period (25-9) with 16 points.

The Blazers extended their lead to 21 points (51-30) however KCCA Panthers greatly improved their craft dropping 21 points in the second quarter.

After the halftime break, the Panthers’ continued with the fight reducing the deficit to (67-53) 14 points.

The Panthers launched a late surge but Namuwongo Blazers hang in to secure an eight-point victory.

Joseph Chuma led the scoring chart with 22 points and 15 points alongside Blair Wadaya (17) and Innocent Ochera (16).

Davis Assimwe dropped a game-high 25 points to lead KCCA while Gaius Mahamba scored 19 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

KCCA Panthers have so far lost six games and won nine games in the ongoing campaign.

NBL Fixtures | Wednesday, May 15

• Miracle Ravens vs Magic Stormers – 7pm
• KCCA Panthers vs Nam Blazers – 9pm

KCCA Panthers will take on top-of-the-table Namuwongo Blazers tonight in the National Basketball League at YMCA in Wandegeya.

Panthers (9-5) will be looking to upset Blazers (12-3) having lost the first-round fixture by 20 points (84-64) at Abja Park, the home of the Blazers.

KCCA come into the game on the back of a one-point win over Power while Namuwongo edged Ndejje Angels in their last out and coach Stephen Nyeko will be hoping for a better defensive effort from the team. Blazers were also pushed to the limit in the game against JT Jaguars they edged 62-60.

In the women’s division, Miracle Ravens will be looking to bounce back from recent disappointing performances when they face Magic Stormers.

Ravens have struggled in the second round, winning just two out of their five games and losing their last two fixtures but against Stormers, a team they beat in the first round of the season, Arnold Katabi will fancy his charges’ chances.

However, the Stormers have since strengthened their squad, notably adding star forward Zainah Lokwameri during the mid-season transfer window.

And the Stormers have shown significant improvement, winning two of their three games in the second round. They triumphed over the UPDF Lady Tomahawks and Kampala University but couldn’t match the power JKL Lady Dolphins.

UCU Lady Cardinals guard Shakira Nanvubya is confident ahead of the clash against KIU Rangers in the ongoing National Basketball League campaign.

UCU Lady Cardinals is set to lock horns with KIU Rangers in the Friday Night Hoops action at Lugogo Indoor Arena.

Ahead of the epic show, Nanvubya revealed that she feels confident ahead of the clash due to the great preparations ahead of the game.

“Since our previous league game, we have been in a good mood preparing for this game because we badly want to win,” she noted.

“We have so far had a good campaign that can only get better and such fixtures like one against KIU Rangers provided the much-required challenge,” she added.

Nanvubya highlighted that she has never lost against KIU Rangers and hardly intends to break the record though she called upon her teammates to give their best so as to avoid an upset.

“This is a team I have never lost against. I hope we keep beating them in games to come. Though no game comes easy and as a team, we have to work hard to ensure that we win the game.”

“KIU (Rangers) has good players that can easily upset you. So we have to go fight for the badge and ensure that we win the game and continue with our impressive run.”

UCU Lady Canons lie fourth on the log with 23 points in 13 games while the Rangers are second with 26 points having played a game more.

NBL Fixtures | Friday, May 3 | MTN Arena – Lugogo

• KCCA Leopards Vs JKL Lady Dolphins – 7:00 pm
• Dmark Power Vs City Oilers – 9:00 pm

City Oilers have switched their focus back on the National Basketball League (NBL) as they get their second round of the campaign underway tonight against struggling Dmark Power.

After a disappointing second season in the Basketball Africa League where they registered just one victory, the team has refocused on the NBL which is the pathway back to the continent.

Tonny Drilleba, Fayed Baale, Titus Lual, Ivan Muhwezi, and Allawi Seenkubuge who barely played in Cairo will be eager to make an impact to build on the dominant 73-38 victory in the first-round meeting.

Power concluded the first round with four wins and seven losses and they have not fared any better in the second round so far, losing all three games. Kevin Ongunjim, Clinton Omondi, and Taariq Powell who were added during the midseason transfer window are yet to click.

Geoffrey Soro is reported to have returned to the club and it remains to be seen whether he will feature for the five-time champions

In the women’s division, champions JKL Lady Dolphins will battle with KCCA Leopards a side looked at as the top challengers for the throne.

The highly anticipated match brings together the top two teams in the division, promising a thrilling showdown following an exciting first-round meeting that the Lady Dolphins edged 83-81.

JT Jaguars complete a double over DMark Power in the National Basketball League following a 79-68 win on Sunday at the MTN Arena in Lugogo.

Power who had fallen to Nam Blazers in a close encounter on Friday night controlled the opening quarter of the Sunday afternoon game winning it 24-21.

However, the five-time champions went cold in the second quarter managing to score just six points as Jaguars went for 19 points and the game turned on its head.

Power who trailed by 11 points going into the fourth quarter fell behind by as many as 17 points with under five minutes to the end of the fourth quarter and at that point, the game was nothing but done.

Kevin Moru finished with a team-high 17 points to lead the Jaguars, Abraham Dut added 14 points off the bench, George Agasi had a 13-point and 11-rebound double-double while Ian Lubwama netted 10 points and handed out 6 assists. Fadhil Chuma pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds to go with 9 points.

Meanwhile, vet Isaac Afidra scored a game-high 21 points in a losing effort and Samad Imran, the other Power player to score in double digits, had 11 points.

City Oilers’ quest for Basketball Africa League Playoffs ended following their second defeat to Bangui Sporting Club on Friday.

The Ugandan champions who shocked Al Ahly 82-81 on Wednesday came into the match up with Bangui looking for victory but a 91-76 loss ended all their hopes of reaching the playoffs.

Oilers dropped to 1-4 following the defeat and will be hoping for not only Al Ahly to beat Al Ahly Benghazi but also the have to beat the Libyans by at least a 12-point margin to stand a chance of advancing.

Oilers trailed 19-12 after the opening ten minutes and by halftime, the deficit was 12 points.

The Ugandans however took the fight to the Central Africans in the third quarter which they won 27-18 to restore hope going into the last quarter of the game.

The fourth quarter started well as the Oilers tied the game at 68 two minutes into the period but the wheels started falling off as the deficit reached double figures later on and there was no way back for the Oilers.

Patrick Rembert had his best offensive game for Oilers with a team-high 21 points to go with 9 rebounds and 4 assists. Randy Culpepper Sr and Dane Miller Jr contributed 16 points each while Khamam Maluach had 10 points and 13 rebounds.

Oilers will play their last game against Al Ahly Benghazi on Saturday.

Uganda National Basketball Team star player Arthur Kaluma has declared for the 2024 NBA Draft.

Kaluma’s declaration comes after having a stellar season with Kansas State University Wildcats in the NCAA.

“First and foremost, I would like to thank God for the opportunities that he has given me playing this game. I am truly blessed.

“I would also like to thank Coach Tang and the whole Kansas State staff for giving me the chance to play in the best conference in college basketball.

“The connections I have built at K-State will last a lifetime. Thank you to all my teammates and fans for their support.

“Without further ado, I would like to announce that I am declaring for the 2024 NBA draft,” Kaluma said in a statement.

The power forward averaged 14 points a game during the season. He was named the BIG 12 Conference Player of the Week in December 2023 and also twice received the Newcomer of the Week honours early this year.

It should be noted that Kaluma played the first two years of his college career at Creighton where he played at the National Tournament both years before transferring to Kansas State last year.

He had declared for the 2023 NBA draft before withdrawing to continue with college.