Espoir BBC suffered their first loss in the last ten games, falling to 14-4 on the season at the hands of the Patriots, 74-71.
The 74-71 setback against the Patriots on Wednesday night at Lycée de Kigali ended a good nine-game streak for the Espoir BBC, who haven’t lost a single game since February 12, 2023, against REG BBC, 76-70.
Last night, the Rafiki-based club did not fly around on defense as usual, failed to hit three-pointers as normal, and did not play with the excitement that has made them the league’s most entertaining team for the last fifteen weeks.
Espoir BBC, as usual, got out to a fast start, leading the opening quarter by six points, 24-18.
In the second period, The Patriots’ defense forced them numerous turnovers and bad shots leaving Espoir down by two points at the break, 39-41.
Henry Mwinuka’s squad maintained its lead in the third quarter, holding Espoir to 14 points. 24-14 to make 53-65.
Espoir came alive in the fourth quarter, starting aggressively and cutting the gap to six points in five minutes. With crowd support mostly from typical Kiyovu sports fans -a football team from the same neighborhood, Espoir pushed the deficit to three points (71-74) and they should have forced the game into extra time, however, a timeout called by Janvier Kamanzi in last 13 seconds didn’t help.
The normally sharpshooting Espoir struggled to find their range, shooting barely 40 percent from the floor, including 5 of 19 from behind the arc.
Olivier Turatsinze (16 points), Heritier Irumva (15), and Dondon Elisee (13) scored in double figures while Pierrere Steven contributed 9 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists.
On the side of the Patriots, Steven Hagumintwari finished with 18 points and did bring in 6 rebounds and 5 assists in 38 minutes spent on the floor. But the true offensive star of the night was Dieudonne Ndizeye, who posted 20 points.
Cadeaux Furaha added 17 points too.
The Patriots improved to 12-2 with the win over Espoir and they are legitimate title contenders despite only using a full Rwandan roster. However, things will not be the same in the playoffs as the big man Ater Majok was in the house supporting his new teammates.
Majok will be the first NBA draftee to play in the Rwanda Basketball League if he takes the court.
