The Rwanda Basketball League Division 2 playoffs for the 2023 season begin today, Friday, July 7th, at Kepler and the Kimironko Sports & Community Space; with a pair of matchups that are expected to add to the thrill of the league’s fantastic regular seasons concluded last month.
With the regular season wrapping up last month, the RBL Division 2 is set for more heated battles when the playoffs begin today.
Eight teams will compete in the quarterfinals, with four advancing to the semis in a best-of-three series. And only two clubs will be promoted to the top-tier league.
Rusizi Basketball Club seems to be on its road back to the top flight. The Rusizi district-sponsored team was demoted to the second division last season, but they proved that they do not belong there by winning all of their regular-season games and advancing to the playoffs with an unbeaten record (16-0). In the quarter-finals, Rusizi rubs shoulders with Flame (9-7)
On the other side, Kepler enters the Rwanda Basketball League playoffs as Group B’s top seed with the league’s second-best regular season record (15-1). Intare (9-7) will be the opponent for the Sahabu-coached team in the opening round.
In the other quarterfinals matchups, ITS Kigali faces Inspired Generation while The Hoops take on Azomco.
With a 12-4 record, ITS Kigali finished third in Group A during the regular season. Inspired Generation comes second in Group A, with a 14-2 win/loss record.
The Hoops Juniors, based at Lycée de Kigali, finished second in Group A and advanced to the postseason with a 12-4 record. Azomco from Bugesera finished in third place in Group B with an 11-5 record.
As approved at the General Assembly, the four teams who finished bottom will be demoted. The top two teams in the second tier division will be promoted to the RBL, hence a team will need to just make it to the final to earn promotion to the top tier division.
The Quarterfinal matchups:
- Rusizi BBC vs Flame, 6 pm at Kepler
- Intare vs Kepler, 6 pm at Kimironko
- The Hoops vs Azomco, 8 pm Kepler
- ITS Kigali vs Inspired Generation, 8 pm at Kimironko
The best-of-three series’ second games are slated for tomorrow at Kepler.
