- UCU Lady Canons 50-51 JKL Lady Dolphins (Series tied 3-3)
JKL Lady Dolphins forced a winner-take-all game after edging UCU Lady Canons 51-50 in Game 6 on Sunday evening at YMCA.
The Lady Dolphins overcame a 14-point deficit in the final nine minutes of the game to give themselves a shot at the second successive title.
There was nothing to separate the two sides in the first quarter but Lady Canons pulled away in the second, opening a 10-point gap (30-20) at the break.
Hope Akello and Stella Oyella cut the deficit with lay-ups but the Lasy Canons went on an 11-0 scoring run sparked by Sarah Ageno and the lead was up to 17 points (41-24) with 2 minutes to play. However, a free throw from Oketcho followed by a lay-up from Oyella cut JKL’s deficit to 14 points going into the final quarter.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Maimuna Nabbosa hit a free throw for Canons but Ritah Imanishimwe, at the other end, sunk a 3-pointer that sparked a 7-0 run and Dolphins cut the deficit to a single digit.
However, UCU never looked locked in at least until midway the period whenZainah Lokwameri knocked down a 3-ball that took their lead to 11 points (48-37).
Desperate Dolphins fight back
On the edge of losing the tile to UCU, the spark for Dolphins came from a likely source but an unlikely zone. Akello who hardly attempts from beyond the arc hit a 3-pointer and Lady Dolphins went on a 13-1 run culminated by Oyella’s go-ahead lay-up.
Lady Canons were forced into a time out with 44 seconds and on return, Ageno turned over but JKL did not make use of the possession, instead, Oyella also turned over to Ruth Letaru who was fouled by Flavia Oketcho.
The Lady Canons point guard missed both throws and picked a rebound with the ball ending up in Lokwameri’s hands but the forward found steel with a 3-point attempt.
With a foul to give, Ageno fouled Oketcho and head coach Henry Malinga called for a time out but on return, Muhayimina Namuwaya turned over on the inbound but Lady Canon could not take advantage of the final possession as JKL held on for a one-point win.
Ayella scored game-high 15 points and picked 8 rebounds to lead JKL and Akello added 12 points, 9 rebounds and made 5 steals. Oketcho had 8 points.
Ageno scored 13 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in a losing effort while Rose Akon had 10 points and picked game-high 17 rebounds.