September 14th, 2022, In BK Arena, the Patriots tied the 5-game series at 2-2 to force the final decider in the Rwanda Basketball League, RBL Men’s Playoffs.
Kenneth Hubert Gasana displayed a truly awesome offensive performance in a do-or-die contest that lead to the Patriots’ victory over REG BBC. The 78-65 win means a game 5 in the 2022 Rwanda Basketball League Playoff-finals will now determine who takes RBL title bragging rights.
Things seemed easy for REG BBC before this game as they had taken a 2-1 lead with only one more to clinch a second consecutive RBL title. However, the Patriots led by Kenneth Hubert Gasana were not ready to go down without putting up an even better fight.
Patriots reacted to beat their rivals 78-65 (14-11, 27-10, 15-22, and 22-22) to push the battle to the last day. Gasana scored a team-high 18 points to go with 10 assists and complete a double-double in this must-win game. Ntore Habimana, Steven Hagumintwari, Dieudonne Ndizeye, Kendall Gray scored in double digit too. Habimana dished 6 assists and grabbed 9 rebounds.
REG’s Axel Mpoyo led all scorers with 19 points. The power forward grabbed 10 rebounds too. Jean Jacques Nshobozwabyosenumukiza contributed 16 points.
The deciding game 5 is scheduled for Sunday, September 18, at BK Arena.
In the women’s category, REG Women BBC overcame APR BBC to clinch the title for a second consecutive season. REG defeated APR 63-54 to make it 3-1 in the best-of-five series. Ines Nezerwa was outstanding once again, scoring 26 points and grabbing 17 rebounds
REG Women BBC pocketed 10 Million Rwandan francs and will represent Rwanda in the next year’s Zone V championship.
