Wednesday Results
- KIU Rangers 76-85 UCU Lady Canons (Lady Canons lead series 2-0)
- City Oilers 72-61 UCU Canons (Oilers lead series 2-0)
City Oilers have a foot in 2022 National Basketball League Playoff finals after beating UCU Canons, 72-61, in Game 2 of the semifinal.
Oilers win over the Canons was however overshadowed by referee Peter Kirabo who many that endured the cold Wednesday night at YMCA felt was biased in executing his duties.
Jerry Kayanga opened the scoring with a lay-up but James Okello hit a mid-range jumper followed by a 3-pointer from Davis Christopher and the defending champions were in the lead the rest of the way.
A nine-point lead (18-9) for Oilers after the opening ten minutes turned into 17 points midway through the second quarter and the Canons were reduced to playing catch up and inevitably did not thanks in part to carelessness with the ball.
Fayed Bbaale, despite scoring a team-high 20 points and picking five rebounds, coughed up the ball six times. The Canons combined for 30 turnovers that led to them conceding 25 points.
The turnover problem was even made worse by the poor shooting on the night. Kayanga, a reliable shooter, was 0-for-6 from deep while Fadhil Chuma continued with his underwhelming performance going scoreless in the 20 minutes he played.
Player of the game Peter Sifuma (15 points) and Ibanda Lwabaga (10) were the only other Canons who scored in double figures.
Francis Azolibe scored game-high 21 points and made 6 steals to lead Oilers, Tony Drileba had 13 points and Ivan Muhwezi scored 10.
In the women’s division, UCU Lady Canons took a 2-0 series lead after beating KIU Rangers 85-76 behind Maimuna Nabbosa’s 23 points as well as Rose Akon’s 17 points and game-high 23 rebounds. Agatha Kamwada (11), Bridget Aber (11), and Hajara Najjuko also scored in double figures.
Ines Kanyamunza scored team-high 19 points for Rangers while Peruth Naymwenge, Florence Nanyonga, and Clarisse Ntumba had 18 points each.
