Thursday night’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Rwanda Energy Group guard Jean Jacques Wilson Nshobozwabyosenumukiza sealed the game against Marcus Crawford and his SLAC.
REG finished the first quarter with a good 22 to 15 lead, before SLAC cut the deficit in the second quarter and end the first half level at 42-42.
REG had a one-point lead at the end of the third quarter 64-63 and in the last quarter, the scores were close until the last 2 minutes.
Prior to REG’s last ball possession, power forward Axel Mpoyo had his chance of winning the game for the Rwandan side if only he could keep the ball. However, he lost it to Christopher Ewaoche Obekpa who didn’t make a mistake from that turnover and give SLAC an 81-80 lead.
It was just 7.8 seconds remaining when REG came out of a timeout, looking to get the ball into the hands of point guard Cleveland Thomas who dribbled and give the ball back to Nshobozwa.
With only 1.5 seconds, Rwandan Point Guard Nshobozwabyosenumukiza hits a buzzer-beater from behind the arc to make it 83-81 and secure a 2-0 win record for the 2022 BAL Sahara Conference.
Nshobozwabyosenumukiza scored 18 points, dished out 4 assists and stole 4 balls while Cleveland Thomas dropped a team and game-high 21 points. Dieudonné Ndizeye added 13.
In this game, the American guard, Cleveland Thomas displayed another outstanding performance especially in the last 2 quarters as He’s scored all his 21 points in the second half.
The second win for Rwanda Energy Group proves how serious they mean business in the quest for a playoff slot in Kigali. This Friday, March 11 in Dakar arena, REG will rub shoulders with the host DUC.
