JKL Lady Dolphins avenged the first-round defeat to JT Lady Jaguars with a 65-59 win as the National Basketball League returned on Friday.
The closely contested game came down to the fourth quarter during which Jaguars went ice cold for over three minutes as the Dolphins found breathing room when they established a double-digit lead.
Jaguars started the game better, opening an early lead of 8-2 but the Dolphins quickly responded, taking charge of the opening that they closed out leading 18-11 thanks majorly to Rita Imanishimwe’s three 3-pointers.
Brenda Ekone floated a running jumper to start the second quarter but Jaguars rallied to tie the game at 25 led by Moreen Amoding who scored a quick-fire 8 points as Jaguars edged ahead 34-31 at the long break.
The third quarter was a seesaw with five ties as both sides played cautiously but Imanishimwe and Agatha Kamwada connected from three-point range for the Dolphins to close out the period with a 4-point (49-45) advantage.
Turning Point
JT Lady Jaguars went cold for five minutes in the fourth quarter scoring just 2 points in that stretch (both from the free throw line) as Kamwada, Imanishimwe, Brenda Ekone and player of the game Hope Akello helped Lady Dolphins to a 13-point (60-47) lead with just over four minutes to play.
The Lady Dolphins (10-2) were never troubled the rest of the way as they closed out with a six-point win that took them to the top of the standings and dropped the Jaguars (9-3) to second place
Imanishimwe scored a game-high 17 points, Akello finished with 8 points and game-high 19 boards while Beck Langom and Ekone contributed 13 and 10 points respectively for the Dolphins.
Amoding (16) and Zainah Lokwameri (10) scored in double figures for Jaguars.
