Patriots' Kenneth Gasana facing USM in group stage games | Credit: Kigali Today
8 teams to battle it out in the inaugural Basketball Africa League playoffs to determine who will become champions of this new African club championship.
SCHEDULE
Wednesday 26th May 17:30 CAT, FAP vs Zamalek 21:00 CAT, AS Salé vs Petro de Luanda
Thursday 27th May 17:30 CAT, AS Douanes vs US Monastir 21:00 CAT, Ferroviario de Maputo vs Patriots BC
Following the postponed match from Group C between Zamalek and GS Petroliers which ended on Monday evening, the eight teams that will play the inaugural Basketball Africa League, BAL playoffs have all been known.
The last game of groups sees Egypt’s Zamalek humiliating their counterparts of GSP from Algeria, 97-64. The rankings have been made to define the playoffs schedule.
1. US Monastir
2. Zamalek
3. Petro de Luanda
4. Patriots BC
5. Ferroviario de Maputo
6. AS Salé
7. FAP
8. AS Douanes
Among the 8 teams that will play in the Basketball Africa League playoffs, 3 have finished the group stage matches unbeaten that are US Monastir, Zamalek, and Petro de Luanda taking 1st, 2nd, and 3rd seed respectively. While Two best 3rd place teams advanced to the playoffs as 7th and 8th seeds. The 1st seed faces the 8th, 2nd faces the 7th, 3rd faces the 6th, and the 4th faces the 5th.
The playoffs of the Basketball Africa League games are scheduled to tip-off this Wednesday, May 26th, and games will be played in a knockout format with a single-elimination game.
Patriots that had a series of 9-0 records in the rounds of qualifications, 2-1 in the group stage, will face Mozambique’s Ferroviario de Maputo, a team that went through all rounds of qualifications. And then qualified to the playoffs after beating AS Douanes and GSP.
Petro de Luanda’s deep squad helped them finish the group games undefeated as its bench triumphed AS Salé’s bench 50-10 in the last game of BAL Group B.
Matchday 7 played on Sunday, May 23, 2021, was concluded with the battle of the two undefeated teams in Group B, Athlético Petróleos de Luanda, and Association Sportive Salé. Both teams had a convincing run of victories against the FAP and AS Police.
In a very thrilling game, Petro came in this match aware of Stoglin’s shoots combined with great strength plus the ability to drive the ball and get it into the paint, which is almost unstoppable.
Terrell Stoglin became the first player to score 40 points in this BAL. Stoglin achieved the milestone last Friday, May 20, 2021, when he dominated AS Police in his team’s win.
AS Salé put together an early run, thanks to 13 points from Rashad Deane James in the first quarter. Rashad was outstanding in this quarter before Petro head coach, José Neto noticed that all efforts had been emerged to stop Terrell Stoglin but this American guard needed special attention too. AS Salé finished the first quarter with a 7 point lead. 23-16
In the next Quarters, Petro’s defense was immense through their centers Pedro, Richards, and Joaquim who kept on rotating. Petro’s rich squad was instrumental in the comeback as the experienced guards Carlos Morais and Olimpio Cipriano helped the team in carrying momentum to increase the score as they won all three other quarters, 32-23, 20-17, 29-15 to make it 97-78.
Four times FIBA AfroBasket winner, Olimpio Cipriano stepped up when his side Petro needed him the most to secure a well-fought come-back victory against AS Salé. Cipriano, who started on the bench, made three-pointers every time he came on the court and continued to put the opponent in danger.
The 39-year-old shooting guard hit five of eight three-pointers attempts and scored 17 points in general in the 17 minutes he played. He finished the game with no turnover and 60 as field goal percentage.
AS Salé duo Terrell Stoglin and Rashad James scored 25 points and 22 points respectively. However, their efforts were not enough to keep the unbeaten record for this north-western-based Morocco club.
Petro finished with a 3-0 record in Group B after edging AS Salé to the top spot with a thrilling 97-78 triumph on the Group B last day match. AS Salé had picked up two wins from their three games to go through in second place, while Cameroon’s FAP took the third spot in a 1-2 record. AS Police, considered as an underdog before the tournament, completes the group with a series of 3 losses.
Petro and AS Salé together with US Monastir and Patriots of group A plus Group C’s Ferroviario and Zamalek have all booked their tickets in the quarterfinals. Two more teams will be added as the best third teams to make it eight.
USM Guard come off the bench to score 28 points against Patriots | Courtesy
Lebanon International shooting guard Wael Arakji comes off the bench to produce 28 points that helped US Monastir end the undefeated record of Rwanda’s Patriots.
In the much-anticipated match of group stage games, the Tunisian giants, US Monastir beat Patriots and became the first team to advance to the quarterfinals with an undefeated record, 3-0.
In this game, US Monastir got unparalleled help from the bench as the bench players contributed 60 points for all with Wael Arakji scoring 28 points alone in 22 minutes. The Patriots had only 16 points from the bench.
US Monastir outplayed Patriots 91-75 to win the third game in a row which goes on to emphasize and confirm that this team is the title contender and some of the observers would not hesitate to declare this Tunisian side the favorite for this maiden edition of the Basketball Africa League, BAL
On the home side, the Patriots were stunned by the performance from US Monastir, even Ibeh, and Costner did not produce anything close to their usual performance. However, Kenneth Gasana was doing an incredible job offensively. Kenny scored 22 points and assisted 8 times in the 30 minutes he played.
Patriots’ centers, Prince Ibeh and Bush Wamukota fouled out in the last quarter with 4 mins remaining which simplified the task for US Monastir to score into the paint.
This game was attended by President Paul Kagame and the First Lady, Mrs. Jeanette Kagame | Courtesy Photo
Both US Monastir and Patriots secured their slots in the quarterfinals early as they both merged to beat GNBC and Rivers Hoopers. Quarterfinals are scheduled for May 25th and 26th 2021.
Twenty-five teams from 13 countries in both men and women categories have already registered to participate in the International Sand Volleyball Tournament, Rubavu Beach Volleyball World 2 StarTour tournament scheduled from July 14 in Rwanda, Rubavu district.
The Rubavu Beach Volleyball has been postponed on numerous occasions citing issues brought about by the global pandemic COVID-19, however, between July 14th and 18th, 2021, this festive Beach Volleyball party will take place on the sandy shores of Lake Kivu. 25 teams in both men’s and women’s categories have confirmed their participation.
Among the 14 men’s teams that have already confirmed their participation are 2 teams from Rwanda, 3 from Austria, 2 from the Czech Republic, 1 from Egypt, 1 from Italy, 2 from Slovenia, 1 from Denmark, 1 from Greece, and 1 from Norway.
Of the 11 confirmed women’s teams, there are 2 teams from Rwanda, 2 from Austria, 1 from the Netherlands, 2 from Slovenia, 2 from Switzerland, 1 from Ukraine, and 1 from Scotland.
Rwanda Governing board of Volleyball, FRVB the organizer of the Rubavu Beach Volleyball, also announced that other teams could be added, which will be done no later than 30 days before the start of the tournament.
Rwanda hosted this kind of tournament (Rubavu Beach Volleyball) in 2019. The games were held in Rubavu on the shores of Lake Kivu, but it was a 1 star where Japan’s Shoji and Kurasaka defeated England’s Javier and Joaquin at the semi-final stage to clinch a spot at the final. The Japanese later faced a tough opponent in Denmark’s Overgaard and Jacob in a tightly contested match in which they came back to win 2-1 (12-21, 21-17, and 17-15) and claim gold.
In the lady’s competitions, The Netherlands’ Mexime and Iris won in the women’s final 2-0 (21-16, 23-21) over Denmark’s Signe and Cecile. Rwanda Emerged 4th.
Defender Kiyemba scored the only Important goal as the slaughters punished URA FC at Nakisunga Playground in Mukono.
The composed defender who was a late substitute scored from a direct free kick in the 78th minute to kill off the game.
The game looked destined for a draw due to URA FC’s resilience but Kyetume FC was gifted with a set-piece in a dangerous position that won the game.
Much credit will go to coach Jackson Mayanja that made life so difficult for the on-form URA FC. Nicholas Kasozi and veteran striker Robert Sentongo were all over the pitch helping put their teammates and made trouble for URA FC defense.
As it stands, League is left with only 5 games.
The remaining fixtures for the Top 3 teams.
Express FC.
Kitara FC. (H)
Wakiso Giants FC. (A)
Myda FC. (H)
Bul FC. (H)
KCCA FC. (A)
URA FC.
UPDF FC. (H).
Busoga United FC. (A)
Kitara FC. (H)
Wakiso Giants FC. (A)
Myda FC. (H)
Vipers SC.
Soltilo Bright Stars FC. (A)
Onduparaka FC. (H)
Bul FC. (A)
Police FC. (A)
Kyetume FC. (H).
Express FC has lost only 2 games, drawn 7, and won 16 in 25 games played with 55 points. They have the meanest defence in the league having conceded only 13 goals and scored 40goals with a one-point lead at the summit.
Patriots Players celebrating after the win against Rivers Hoopers | Credit: Kigali Today
Patriots BC goes in the book as the first team to win a Basketball Africa League, BAL game.
Rwanda’s Patriots BC win the first game of the inaugural Basketball Africa League in the game the famous American rapper, J.Cole made his pro basketball debut.
Patriots that had an unbeaten record in the 2 rounds of Qualifiers, started the inaugural Basketball Africa League games on a high note, beating the Nigerian giants, Rivers Hoopers 83-60 in an eye-catching game that was a mixture of talent showcase and entertainment.
Kigali Arena is hosting the Basketball Africa League games. A small number of fans are invited too as long as they respect the guidelines to prevent COVID-19 | Credit: Kigali Today
In the first quarter, Rwanda’s Pride, Patriots trailed Rivers Hoopers 18-17 but quickly turned things around in the three first minutes of the second quarter by making a 13-0 run. At this time, the host Patriots took control of the game with the help of Kigali Arena’s crowd. At the break, the Rwandan side was leading with a 9 points difference. 43-34
In the last two quarters of the game, the home side had nothing rather than consolidate the victory through their rich Squad. 22-10, 18-16 to make it 83-60 at the full time.
In this game, 38.5% of the Patriots’ points were from the bench while their opponent’s bench managed to score 28% of 60 points scored in the whole game. Nigerian side, Rivers Hoopers’ biggest lead was 8 points in the first quarter while the Patriots’ biggest lead was 29 points.
Patriots’ new addition and Rwanda National team center, Prince Ibeh, in 24 minutes played, contributed 11 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots in the winning cause. Patriots’ Brandon Costner’s 20-point performance earned him a player of the Game award.
In this Basketball Africa League opening game, the American rapper, Jermaine Lamarr Cole ‘J. Cole’ who released his latest album The “Off-Season” on Friday, May 14, 2021, while he was in camp with Patriots, played his first Profession basketball game as he has never ceased to express his love for this game. As a reminder, this famous rapper is not new in Basketball as he was a star basketball player at Sanford High School and St. John’s University. Last year, J. Cole got a tryout offer from the NBA side, Detroit Pistons.
American rapper and basketball player, J. Cole featured in the opening game for Patriots BC | Courtesy Photo
The Basketball Africa League games continue this Monday as Senegal’s AS Douanes plays Algerian’s GS Petrolies in the early first game before Zamalek faces Ferroviario de Maputo then we end the day with another entertaining game of Group A, US Monastir vs GNBC.
Matchday 3 of the 2021 Futsal Super League season marked the end of the first round of encounters after a remarkably enjoyable return of Futsal action in the country.
As of 15th May, a total of 12 games have been played with an impressive total of 96 goals by all teams and averaging 8 goals per game.
Big Talent FC soccer academy has scored more goals. 16 more than any other side after the first round.
Kampala Junior Team FC is the only team yet to pick a point after 3 games with the worst defensive record of 22 goals conceded.
Synergy FC’s victory stretched their position at the log to 7 points, 3 ahead of Kisenyi FC.
Rwandan Danny Kirenga continues to impress in the Bukavu League after four consecutive wins for his side BC Ami-BK.
After spells in top-flight league basketball clubs like APR BBC and 30 Plus BBC, St Joseph Kabgayi, and KIE, former Rwandan basketball player, Danny Kirenga caught the attention of the Bukavu basketball side BC Ami-BK.
The team went ahead to sign a deal with the Rwandan coach to guide and share his experience with the players for a good two years
Today, BC Ami-BK started their second leg matches with a heavy win against Bagira BC, 92-41, the same side they defeated, 86-48 in the last round of the first leg. Ami-BK led all quarters of the game, 17-11,23-11,26-10,26-09.
BC Ami-BK Head Coach Danny Kirenga has never recorded a single loss since he took over.
BC Ami-BK plays in the Bakavu League, a league played in the city of Bukavu located far east of the Democratic Republic of Congo at the western border of Rwanda, south of Lake Kivu.
Bukavu League has 16 teams which are divided into 2 groups this year. Each group containing 8 teams with Danny Kirenga’s Ami-BK in the group that plays games at ISP de Bukavu.
In the interview with Coach Danny Kirenga, He tells us about his journey to the DRC, their league level, and what he thinks he will benefit from as a start-up coach.
When asked how the DRC Championship, especially the Bukavu League compares to the Rwandan Championship, coach Danny Kirenga said.
“Let me talk about our Bukavu League. Here we only use the nationals and mostly young players due to the grassroots development system that has already been established here. Bukavu has five basketball academies. Therefore, they give the opportunity to young players, then add few experienced players to uplift the overall performance, while in Rwandan League, teams can acquire foreigners and the numbers of young players in the title contenders’ clubs are very small plus DRC Basketball is very physically because of the youth.”
You had been a great player in Rwanda, you served as the team manager of Espoir. Why did you choose to start a coaching career abroad instead of following the footstep of your fellow generation mates?
“My dream was a technical direction call. I had also tried to run for a technical advisory post in the federation, although I did not make it,” he said.
“However, the fact that you have been a player, been a technical staff member, you are in contact with the coaches which means that you have skills and connections. That is how I found myself in Bukavu. They approached me since they knew me as a player, knew my ability to transmit the knowledge/skills of Basketball I have,” he added.
Coach Danny Kirenga was part of GS Joseph Kabgayi’s generation that played in the first division along with Coach John Bahufite, Coach Manu, Coach Yves Nkurunziza to mention but a few.
What responsibilities were you given when you signed the contract and what are your goals for the first year as head coach?
“When I signed the contract at BC AMI-BK, I was asked to win the Bukavu League, and qualify the team in the “Coupe du Congo” in Kinshasa, a tournament contested by regional winners to decide the country’s champion,” he said.
Personally, I would like to qualify the team to “Coupe du Congo” first then go further and finish in the top four. Usually, Teams from the East, I mean from Bukavu and Goma, get out of the tournament (Coupe du Congo) early. I want to compete until the last four,” he added.
How was the club before you joined it, the current situation, and your strategies to get it to the top spot?
“At the time I signed for this club, they struggled in defense. Consequently, they had lost against Mandeleo, which tops the ranking. They used to score many points but defensively, they were not organized and sometimes lost concentration easily. Therefore, that is the first thing I had to work on. Even the club leaders before hiring me told me about it. They wanted me to solve those defense issues,” said the new coach.
“For me, as a former defensive player. That is an easy task. I am helping them, learning is a process, and I can see the improvement. Because since I took over no opponent has been able to score at least 60 points in the game,” Danny Kirenga added.
Mr. Danny Kirenga, finally yet important, what are you benefiting from coaching in DRC?
“Coaching is the most challenging career, I have to work hard and I am not here for only coaching purposes but also to learn. There are basketball academies, we don’t have them in Rwanda. So, as a technically oriented person, I always acquire skills in development, talent detection, and in the near future, I will connect the players to my fellow coaches in Rwanda. There are talents, some promising players,” Danny Kirenga ended.
In all eight games played, seven from the first leg and one from the second leg so far, Mandeleo BC is leading the table after winning all eight games followed by BC Ami-BK that has lost one of the eight in the group which is based at the Institut Superieur Pedagogique de Bukavu, ISP.
The playoffs are expected to be played in the first days of July.
The Futsal Super League FSL continued over the weekend with 4 games on card played at the new Arena, Old Kampala Sports Arena.
MD2 RESULTS.
Aidenal SOSA FC 2-3 Big Talent FC.
Mengo FC 3-1 Kampala Junior Team FC.
Kisenyi FC 4-3 Yeak Kabowa FC.
Park FC 5-5 Synergy FC.
Singer Eddie Kenzo’s owned Big Talent FC and Mengo FC maintained winning ways beating Aidenal SOSA Fc and Kampala Junior Team Fc respectively.
Big Talent FC duo Faisal Wabyoona the Uganda Cranes cubs playmaker and teammate Farouk Tumwesigye lead the top performers with six and five goals respectively.
The games will continue with Match Day 3 on Saturday 15th May at the same venue.
Yunus Sentamu and Milton Marisa scored for the champions Vipers SC in a space of 3 minutes in the second half to earn the 3points.
Titleholders win at MTN Philip Omondi Stadium to keep pressure on URA FC who lead the log with a one-point advantage.
Vipers SC completely ended KCCA FC’s title hopes with two quick second-half goals. The St Mary’s based club was registering their first win at Lugogo since season 2016/1017 when they won this fixture with the same result.
Yunus Sentamu got Vipers SC’s first goal in the 55th minute adding on his tally to make it 13 league goals. Milton Karisa scored a beautiful volley from Aziz Kayondo’s cross after KCCA FC’s young stars Hassan Jurua’s mistake to make it 2goals in the 57th min.
KCCA FC players made a quick response and through former Uganda Cranes defender, Denis Iguma got one goal back in the 65th minute. It was all KCCA FC attacking in the last 20 minutes of the game. Vipers SC had all to keep the lead to remain chasing the tax collectors who have one point advantage with the same games.
