National Basketball League:
UPDF vs. Rhino – 6:00pm
UCU Canons vs. City Oilers – 8:00pm
Zone V champions City Oilers have to defeat their boggy side UCU Canons Friday night to reclaim top position in the National Basketball League regular season.
Mandy Juruni’s side find themselves in second place with their 18-3 record, a couple of points behind KIU Titans who have a 19-3 record after playing all their 22 games of the season.
“We are ready to play our best game and finish top of the table,” Oilers coach Mandy Juruni told Kawowo Sports ahead of the game.
The three time winners will start their preparations for the Africa Club championship next week but will have their attention on the local league for now as they search for their fourth straight championship.
“We have no choice but to prepare for both. We shall start our preparations for the Africa club championship next week,” Juruni revealed when asked about balancing the two competitions.
Juruni is also not worried about his side finishing second after their last game.
“You can’t play well or play your game if you are on pressure and it’s not the end of the world if we finish second,” he said.
Oilers, on 39 points after 21 games, trail their title challengers KIU Titans by 2 points and have to win to leapfrog the Kansanga side.
For UCU Canons, fifth place looks guaranteed regardless of the outcome from their remaining games.
“We want to be ready for playoffs so big games matter. We want to win and we shall try to do that,” shooting guard Steve Wundi told this website ahead of the clash.
UCU, who finished sixth at the Zone V Club Championship in Tanzania, fell to Oilers in the first round fixture but have the belief that they can compete with any side in the league.
The university side marked their return from the Zone V with a 73-63 win over relegation bound Charging Rhino.