Rwanda’s Patriots defeated Ferroviarrio de Maputo in a nail-biting encounter to claim the 4th slot in the BAL semi-final. A game attended by President of the Republic of Rwanda, Paul Kagame alongside his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, the President of France.
In the hard-fought game of the quarter-finals of the African Basketball League, the hosts, Patriots overcame Mozambique’s Ferroviarrio 73-71 to become the only team in the semi-final that played this inaugural BAL coming through the qualifiers.
Teams from BAL Predetermined counties, Petro de Luanda (Angola), Zamalek ( Egypt), and US Monastir (Tunisia) had already booked their quarter-final slots.
All these teams have previously won the Basketball African Clubs Championship, the league that was replaced by Basketball Africa League. Thus Patriots had to fight for the nation’s pride as the host and join these African giants in the last four. The crowd played a big role in the night’s victory.
Before the crucial encounter, the famous American rapper and Basketball player, Jermaine Lamarr Cole completed his contractual obligation to BAL and bid farewell to the Patriots for what was said to be a family obligation.
In the game, Patriots struggled to play the end of the game again as their big man, Prince Ibeh fouled out while Brandon Costner had 4 fouls in the whole last quarter. Bush Wamukota finished the game with 4 Personal fouls too.
Kenneth Gasana displayed another high-level performance which earned him a player of the game. 23 points, 1 assist, and 5 rebounds. However, the Patriots skipper, Aristide Mugabe who started on the bench was the game-changer.
Mugabe’s play in the fourth quarter was a big reason he has carried the club captaincy for 6 years. He made 4 straight three-pointers. His lackluster performance last night drove his side forward and proved his leadership.
This is not the first time that a Rwandan team has reached the semi-finals of the Africa Club Championship. In 2009, APR BBC finished 3rd in a competition held at Amahoro Petit Stade, Kigali
The BAL semi-finals are scheduled for Saturday, May 29, 2021. Petro de Luanda takes on Zamalek before the Patriots face US Monastir again.
