Basketball Africa League | Results

• City Oiler 68-79 Al Ahly Benghazi
• City Oilers 88-101 Bangui
• City Oilers 76-99 Al Ahly

City Oilers suffered a 68-79 loss to Al Ahly Benghazi in the 2024 Basketball Africa League encounter played in Cairo, Egypt on Monday.

The National Basketball League record champions suffered their consecutive third loss in the tough first round of the 2024 BAL Nile Conference.

This places City Oilers at the bottom of the log making the journey to the playoffs in Kigali blurry ahead of the second round.

In the early two conference games, City Oilers miserably lost to Al Ahly and Bangui leaving their chances of qualifying trading on a thin line.

At the end of the first period, the Oilers were trailing by 15 points (11-25) before the deficit widened to 26 points into the long break.

Coming from the locker rooms, City Oilers greatly improved limiting Al Ahly Benghazi to only 11 points as they dropped 24.

However, the second-half fight was not enough as the Libyan side secured an 11-point victory on the day.

The Oilers were so poor outside the paint as they missed 23 of the 26 long shots on top of easily giving away the ball in 19 turnovers.

Oilers’ scoring was led by Patrick Rembert with 17 points, Khaman Maluach contributed a double-double of 16 points and 19 rebounds while Robinson Opong and Muhammad Bashir dropped 11 points respectively.

Sean Kinsella beat a big field of over 100 golfers to emerge the winner of the day-long MTN Monthly Tee for April.

Kinsella returned to the clubhouse with 64 nett.

Paul Habyarimana won the Men’s Group A with 65 nett, three shots ahead of Michael Tumusiime in second.

In Group B, David Batanda came top with 67 nett, two shots better than Charles Odere.

Ronald Gayiya scored 68 nett to win Group C, one shot off Emmanuel Mugabi.

In the Ladies category, Rita Akot Apell won Group A ladies with 72 nett with the club lady captain Jovia Tugume (74 nett) was runners-up on countback score.

Peace Hellen won the ladies Group B with 72 nett and Nice Janda took the runners-up spot 73 nett on count-back.

John Muchiri topped the seniors category with 72 nett (countback) while Dean Kateeba was the outstanding guest player with 67 nett.

APRIL TOP PERFORMERS

OVERALL WINNER

• Sean Kinsella 64 nett

GROUP A MEN

• WINNER: Paul Habyarimana 65 nett
• RUNNER UP: Michael Tumusiime 68 nett

GROUP B MEN

• WINNER: David Batanda 67 nett
• RUNNER UP: Charles Odere 69 nett

GROUP C MEN

• WINNER: Ronald Gayiya 68 nett
• RUNNER UP: Emmanuel Mugabi 69 nett

GROUP A LADIES

• WINNER: Rita Apell 72 nett
• RUNNER UP: Jovia Tugume 74 nett c/b

GROUP B LADIES

• WINNER: Peace Hellen 72 nett
• RUNNER UP: Nice Janda 73 nett c/b

SENIORS (55+) WINNER

• John Muchiri 72 nett c/b

GUEST WINNER

• Dean Kateeba 67 nett

Nearest to the Pin (Hole 13)

• Andrew Baguma

National Basketball League Results

• UCU Canons 59-56 JT Jaguars
• YMCA Lady Hamstars 46-66 JT Lady Jaguars
• Dmark Power 46-72 JKL Dolphins
• Nabisunsa 52-56 Miracle Ravens
• KIU Titans 87-61 Our Saviour

UCU Canons secured a hard-fought 59-56 victory against JT Jaguars in the National Basketball League at Lugogo Arena on Sunday.

It was a thrilling show that was boosted by rivalry and different parties renewing their acquaintances.

At the end of the first quarter, the game was levelled 16-16 before JT Jaguars later took a five-point lead (29-24) at the break.

After the long break, the Mukono-based side greatly improved their craft as Joel Kayiira’s layup gave the Canons a two-point lead (42-40) going into the final block.

The game witnessed late drama after Fadhil Chuma’s jump shot tied the duel at 51-51 with 00:35 on the clock though Ibanda Lwabanga’s late six points gave Canons victory.

The hard fight paid off as the Canons picked their eighth victory of the campaign while JT Jaguars suffered their sixth loss in 12 outings.

The Canons scoring sheet was led by Ibanda who dropped 21 points while Jerry Kayanga and Kayiira scored 13 and 10 respectively.

George Agasi led the Jaguars with 17 points though Ian Lubwama and Chuma scored 13 and 12 respectively.

• Al Ahly (Egypt) Vs City Oilers (Uganda) – 8:00 pm (EAT)

City Oilers will start their pursuit of the Basketball Africa League Playoff spot as the Nile Conference play gets underway today at the Hassan Moustafa Sports Hall in Cairo, Egypt.

The Ugandan champions will battle hosts and BAL defending champions Al Ahly in the first game.

The encounter against Al Ahly offers the Oilers a chance to avenge the narrow 72-70 defeat to the Egyptians last year at the same stage and venue.

Oilers have a strong roster that has Patrick Rembert, Ahmed Bashir Mohammed, Dane Miller Junior as well as Silverbacks’ star wing Robinson Opong, center Brandon Ssebirumbi and NBA Academy graduate Khaman Maluachi who joined the home-based group of six players.

Oilers will also battle Bangui Sporting Club (Central Africa Republic) and Al Ahly Benghazi (Libya) over two legs.

The objective is to secure a position among the top two in the four-team group to qualify for the prestigious playoffs scheduled for May at the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda.

The latest addition to City Oilers’ camp is Silverbacks’ superstar Robinson Opong ahead of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) tipoff.

Uganda representatives City Oilers will be fighting for a place in the playoffs and Opong’s arrival makes the dream more realistic.

Opong joined the camp on Tuesday morning as the NBL champions continued to dust themselves off ahead of real business.

Opong will give Karim Nesba’s troops more scoring options who already have experienced Dane Miller Jr, Ahmed Bashir Mohammed and Culpepper Randy.

City Oilers also have Khaman Maluach as another important piece. The youngster was elevated by BAL and will be tasked to guide City Oilers to glory after guiding Senegal’s AS Douanes in last year’s final.

In the recent FIBA Afrobasket Qualifiers, Opong dropped 39 points as Uganda beat Nigeria 72-62 in a thrilling show.

City Oilers are pitted alongside Al Ahly (Egypt), Al Ahly (Libya) and the Central African Republic’s Bangui Sporting Club.

KIU Titans closed the first round of the 2024 National Basketball League(NBL) with an 85-53 Victory over Ndejje University Angeles at the MTN Arena in Lugogo on Sunday.

The Titans were in control throughout the game en route to their eighth victory of the season.

KIU Titans led 21-11 in the first quarter and added 21 more points in the next ten minutes to establish a 21-point margin at the halftime break.

The third quarter ended 67-40 in favour of the Titans who kept their feet on the pedal, scoring 18 more points in the fourth to hit the 80-point mark and close off the game with a 31-point win.

Denis Omara scored a game-high 15 points. The shooting guard who also earned his fourth consecutive start picked three rebounds and handed out a couple of assists.

Edgar Munaba finished with a double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds to go with three assists.

Juf Mpiya and Joel Lukoji Banza as the duo finished with 13 points a piece. Mpiya added nine rebounds, four assists and six steals while Banza had four rebounds and three assists.

Eight clubs have booked their tickets to the 2024 National Rugby Championship Playoffs.

Going by the standings after Matchday 9, Heathens, Jinja Hippos, Black Pirates, Kobs, Buffaloes, Mongers, Rhinos, and Walukuba have secured playoff spots with the order to be decided after Matchday 11.

Walukuba, in eighth place, has twenty-two points and is 13 points ahead of the next team that can’t catch up even if they pick maximum points from the final two games of the regular season.

The business end of the season will get underway with the top seed taking on the 8th places team in the playoff quarterfinals, 2nd vs 7th, 3rd vs 6th, and 4th vs 5th.

The National Volleyball League regular season concluded over the weekend and former champions Nemostars finished top of the lof after dropping just a single game during the season.

With the normal season done and dusted, the focus shifts to the playoffs as the top sides tussle out for this season’s championship, starting with the best-of-three semifinals.

As per the standings, top-seeded Nemostars will play KAVC while defending champions Sport-S will have to go past UCU Doves for a chance to defend the title.

In the Women’s Serie A, Ndejje Elite will take on Sport-S while defending champions KCCA will battle KCB Nkumba in the other semifinal.

Playoffs Schedule

Men

• Nemostars vs. KAVC
• Sport-S vs. UCU Doves

Women

• Ndejje Elites vs. Sport-S
• KCCA vs Nkumba

National Basketball League | Result

• UCU Canons 93-42 JKL Dolphins

UCU Canons thumped JKL Dolphins 93-42 in the National Basketball League at Lugogo Arena, Kampala on Sunday.

The Canons opened up a 16-point lead at the end of the first stanza as they clearly showed how badly they wanted to win.

In the second quarter, JKL Dolphins improved but the Canons’ hunger for victory increased as they extended the lead to 20 (45-25) going into the break.

Coming from the locker room, the Dolphins were limited to only five points as they trailed by 37 points at the end of the third period.

In the final quarter, the Canons kept going forward as they ran the Dolphins riot in a 51-point victory.

Jerry Samson Kayanga led the Canons’ scoring chart with 18 points while Norbert Okidi dropped 15 points.

Martin Buluma and Daniel Mwaila were the only Dolphins to score in double digits with each one of them dropping 13 points.

The Canons’ bench had a very good day gathering 48 points while that of the Dolphins managed to get only 16.

Uganda Cricket Association (UCA) has announced Victoria Pearls’ squad for the Women’s T20 World Cup Global Qualifiers slated for April 19 to May 2 in Abu Dhabi.

There is only one change to the team that played at the African Games last month with Immaculate Nandera making way for top-order batter Proscovia Alako.

There has also been a change in leadership of the team with Janet Mbabazi elevated to Captain and Rita Musamali taking up the Vice Captain role. Mbabazi who had been Vice Captain of the side since 2017 replaces Consy Aweko who was in the role from 2022.

Uganda is in Group A alongside Sri Lanka, the USA, Scotland and Thailand.

The games against Scotland and Thailand will be played at night which will be a first-time experience for the Ugandans.

Before the tournament, Victoria Pearls are expected to play a couple of warm-up games against the UAE and Vanuatu.

The Full Squad: Janet Mbabazi (Captain), Rita Musamali (Vice Captain), Consy Aweko, Kevin Awino, Stephanie Nampiina, Immaculate Nakisuyi, Evelyn Anyipo, Sarah Akiteng, Phionah Khulume, Proscovia Alako, Gloria Obukor, Esther Iloku, Lorna Anyait, Malissa Ariokot, Sarah Walaza.

The Group Fixture

Date	Matches	Venue	Time
25/04/2024	Uganda W vs Scotland W	Tolerance Oval	Night
27/04/2024	Uganda W vs USA W	ZCS	Day
29/04/2024	Uganda W vs Thailand W	Tolerance Oval	Night
01/05/2024	Uganda W vs Sri Lanka W	ZCS	Day