- National Basketball League | Friday Results
- UCU Canons 66-74 Power
D-Mark Power registered a 74-66 victory over UCU Canons in the National Basketball League playoffs at the Lugogo Arena on Friday night.
After the Mukono-based side led the series, Power returned in the second game with the hunger to restore parity.
Power held their nerves as they pulled off a stellar performance to see that they level the series thus creating a date for the decider.
Power started off like a house of fire in the first quarter with a 12-point (21-9) lead. The Canons struggled to get the ball falling amidst endless trials.
In the second quarter, Canons improved their offence as they rotated the ball quite more than in the earlier block. By the time the two sides went into the long break, Power led by just a point (37-36).
The talking time was more useful to Power who returned a much more organised and disciplined. They limited the Canons to only five points as they harvested 24 in the same period.
Canons threw all their tools on the court in the final quarter as they attempted to force a comeback but only managed a 25-13 run and it was not enough to award them a victory.
Coach Nicholas Natuhereza greatly rotated the squad and his bench produced 39 points while Power only gathered seven.
Jimmy Otim scored a game-high 18 points on top of four rebounds and seven assists. The other Canons’ players in double digits were Jerry Samson Kayanja and Ibanda Lwabaga who contributed 10 and 12 points respectively.
Guellord Mobanza led Power’s scoring sheet with 16 points, four rebounds and four assists. The other three players with double-figure scoring were Isaac Afidra, Kevin Ogunjim, Puati Ozias Kikomba and Elvis Mpeti Bwanka who dropped 11, 10, 15 and 15 points each.
Going into game three, it will be a do-or-die as the winner in that encounter will take a ticket to play in the semifinals.