The Rwanda Basketball season gets underway this evening with six teams in action and the weekend features several strong opponents throughout the opening week.
This Friday, January 13, at Kepler, the regular season of the Men’s National Basketball League will start off with twelve clubs beginning their quest for a championship.
Due to the preparation and preliminaries of the 2023 FIBA Women’s Afrobasket, the Women league will begin to play on January 21, 2023, per the calendar made public by the federation.
The regular season will comprise 95 games, with the top four teams in each category advancing to the playoffs. The regular season will be played in the conventional home and away format while playoffs will also have a twist, with semifinal games being played in a best-of-five while the finals will be a best-of-seven series.
The second round of the league will begin on 17th March and the playoffs will get underway in August before ending in September per the FERWABA Activities Calendar
According to Landry Jabo and Claudette Mugwaneza, the Executive Director and League Coordinator for the Rwanda Basketball Federation, they are still looking for a media partner to stream the games as the attendance at some venues, such as Kepler, will be limited.
Speaking to the media, Moise Mutokambali, the national technical director, said that 3X3 basketball is not far behind. Among the federation’s endeavors is the 3X3 depth program this season.
“One weekend in the federation’s activities for this season has been set aside for 3*3 Games. Since 3×3 was added to the Olympic Program, the Olympic Committee and schools have collaborated to arrange additional contests and promote this sport.” Said Mutokambali
Meanwhile, The lower division league will start on January 21st, 2023. Eighteen teams will fight for 2 promotion slots.
The Men’s league champion will earn an automatic berth into the Basketball Africa League. The champions and runners-up in the women’s category represent the country in Zone 5. Rwanda Energy Group clubs are defending champions.
OPENING NIGHT FIXTURES:
At Kepler: 7 pm, Rwanda Energy Group BBC vs Orion
9 pm, Espoir BBC vs Shoot 4 Stars
At Stecol: 9pm, Patriots vs K Titans
SATURDAY
At Kepler: 1 pm, APR BBC vs RP-IPRC Musanze
3 pm, Tigers BBC vs RP-IPRC Huye
SUNDAY
At Stecol: 11 am, REG BBC vs RP-IPRC Musanze
1 pm, APR BBC vs RP-IPRC Huye
3 pm, Espoir BBC vs Orion
