Espoir Aganze Bazihima put in a 15-point performance as UGB defeated IPRC Huye in their last game of Rwanda Basketball League first-leg matches, to notch its second win of the weekend in Kigali Arena
An overall amazing weekend for the United Generations Basketball since they beat 30 Plus 92-43 on Friday at Amahoro Outdoor court, thrashed UR-CMHS 102-23 on Saturday, then wrap the weekend with an emphatic win over IPRC Huye 58-46 on Sunday in Kigali Arena to finish their 13 first leg matches on a very high note.
Sunday, April 17, to climax the action-packed weekend in Kigali Arena, UGB sealed a much-needed win over the direct opponent RP-IPRC Huye. As a reminder, last season, IPRC Huye beat UGB in the playoffs competition for fifth place.
United Generations Basketball, UGB, started off the game hot by taking a double-digit lead at the break, 30-20. 14-08, and 16-12 in the first and second quarters respectively.
Charles Mushumba’s IPRC Huye came back strong and took an 18-3 run in the first six minutes of the third quarter, then later ended the quarter with a point lead, 41-40. However, the Southerner’s run was not carried into the fourth quarter. UGB displayed a masterclass performance with great effort from Mc Bright Byambo, Jean de Dieu Umuhoza, and Fabrice Rukundo taking all responsibility while Espoir Aganze, was playing with 4 fouls, managing not to foul out.
They comfortably finished the game with a 58-46 victory to retain the first spot even if their win/loss ratio does not guarantee them to maintain it when the big teams complete their games.
Espoir Aganze Bazihima finished the game with 15 points and Fabrice Rukundo finished with yet another double-double with 11 points and 16 rebounds. IPRC’s Dieudonné Tuyishemeze scored a game high 16 points.
In this game, IPRC Huye center, Elvis Mpeti did excellent work defensively but offensively needed a lot of work to be done. He grabbed 13 rebounds, blocked 5 shots, and he contributed only 2 points in 35 minutes spent on the court.
UGB has now won 8 of their last 10 games. Their record improved to 9-4 in the league this season.
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