Akon Elevated Ubumwe BBC To A Victory Against APR BBC In Matchday 1
There is no question Akon Rose Paul Macuei made the biggest difference at her side’s opener against opponents APR BBC. Ubumwe BBC can reap the fruits of a decision made to bring her on early in the tournament.
The name Akon Rose Paul Macuei was all over the stats charts.
- Points 37
- Rebounds 26
- Assists 4
- Blocks 8
Ubumwe BBC was using the same players on the court with little support from the bench. It was shocking to see that there were no bench points at the end of regular time. This team used the individual new Forward Akon Rose Paul Macuei who really made a difference. Through her, the team scored 27 points from turnovers.
- 1st Q: Ubumwe BBC 17-13 APR BBC
- 2nd Q: Ubumwe BBC 17-16 APR BBC
- 3rd Q: Ubumwe BBC 15-17 APR BBC
- 4th Q: Ubumwe BBC 14-17 APR BBC
- OT: Ubumwe BBC 11-07 APR BBC
- FT: Ubumwe BBC 74-70 APR BBC
It was a tough encounter for the APR ladies as Ubumwe had the lead in 3 quarters. APR BBC managed a comeback to force the game to proceed to overtime.
It was clear that APR would suffer at the end of the game because there was little bench support and in addition to that, they risked by committing numerous fouls. Four minutes to the end of the 4th quarter, APR BBC was leading 55-52 when Captain Charlotte Umugwaneza had to be disqualified after she exhausted her limit on fouls. A minute later, another Center, Assouma Uwizeye also fouled out.
Ubumwe Head coach reacted to this crucial win saying, “The game was hard for us because APR is our rival so we are happy that the victory is on our side. It gives us the momentum to win our next games.”
When asked about Rose Akon’s performance, and why they did not rest her during the game, Coach Esperance MUKANEZA praised her (Akon) performance. In addition, “Rose Akon played many minutes because we were lucky that the APR tall players were fouled out too early, we have to gain from her height and make them foul and we achieved it. We have won the game.”
In his reactions, APR Head Coach, Charles Mbazumutima said, “Yeah. We have lost the game. The problem we had was that we have injuries like Dumi (Sandra Kantore), a good player but she has been out of action for some time. There is another player, Umuhoza (Jordan) she has injury too and there are other absentees, who are not here for work reasons.”
“Secondly, my Centers, Charlotte and Assouma who fouled out (5 fouls) early. Therefore, that was the reason why we lost this match because if they stayed, they would face that South Sudanese (Rose Akon) who also had many fouls. In the last minutes, we used the same players because we had an inadequate squad. The players, who can score, had already been excluded from the match because of fouls.”
Asked if it is possible to defend the trophy, coach Mbazumutima said, “It is not easy because we have a small squad. Nevertheless, when you are in the tournament, you have to be determined to compete and we will compete to see if we can defend the trophy we won last year.”
“The other teams are strong, they boosted their squad by adding other players, which I think is another reason we are suffering. We do not recruit foreigners.
However, RP-IPRC Huye is on top. The information we have is that they may have had enough time to train. For me, they are favourite to win this tournament,” he added.
Elsewhere, Nicole Rwibutso scored 20 points and made 16 rebounds to help RP-IPRC Huye seal a victory against The Hoops. On the other hand, Feza Ebengo scored the highest points (18) for Micomyiza Rosine “Cisse” and Zainah Lokwameri’s side, The Hoops Rwanda.
- 1st Q: RP-IPRC Huye 23-18 The Hoops
- 2nd Q: RP-IPRC Huye 18-11 The Hoops
- 3rd Q: RP-IPRC Huye 09-17 The Hoops
- 4th Q: RP-IPRC Huye 23-11 The Hoops
- And FT: RP-IPRC Huye 73-57 The Hoops
Today, APR will play against RP-IPRC Huye and The Hoops against Ubumwe BBC. How will Akon Rose Paul Macuei perform today given her outstanding performance yesterday?
