RBL Round 7 (Regular Season): APR lose their first game against Patriots

Here is the last round review presented by Job Market.

The most crucial game of the last round was the first loss of APR (7-1) at the home court on Wednesday night. Hosts were defeated by Patriots (7-0) 73-59. It was a key game for the top position in the league. Patriots forced 20 APR turnovers. They looked well-organized offensively handing out 21 assists. Great defensive blocking was one of the keys in this match when Patriots made 9 blocks. It was a great evening for American forward William Perry (183-1994, college: Lenoir-Rhyne) who led his team to a victory with a double-double by scoring 24 points and 11 rebounds. Dieudonne Ndizeye helped adding 24 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists. Patriots' coach Henry Mwinuka used a ten-player rotation which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. At the losing side American-Georgian guard Michael Dixon (186-1990, college: Memphis) responded with 17 points and 5 rebounds. Undefeated Patriots have an impressive series of seven victories in a row. They keep a position of league leader. Defending champion APR keeps the second place with one game lost.
Very significant was Kepler's (#6) 18-point road victory against 4th placed Tigers 85-67. It was an exceptional evening for Canadian guard Chad Bowie (188-1996, college: SHSU) who led the winners and scored 29 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals. Cyiza Twizeyimana accounted for 18 points and 15 rebounds. Nigerian power forward Francis Azolibe (206-1999) came up with 16 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 6 blocks for Tigers in the defeat. Tigers' coach rotated twelve players seeing no chance for a win. Kepler (4-3) moved-up to fourth place. Tigers at the other side dropped to the fifth position with four games lost. They share it with Espoir and UGB.
K-Titans has finally registered their first victory this season after six consecutive losses. The win is especially important as it came on the road game in , where they defeated Inspired Gen. (0-7) 83-67 on Saturday. Jordan Mbaki fired 26 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists for the winners. Joseph Lambe-Embola produced 16 points and 5 rebounds for lost side. Both coaches used bench players and allowed the starting five to rest. K-Titans maintains ninth place with 1-6 record. It was Inspired Gen.'s seventh loss in a row. Newly promoted team still closes the standings with seven games lost.

There were no shocking results in the rest of the games of round 7: winless Inspired Gen. lost to Orion on the opponent's court 76-91. K-Titans unfortunately lost to UGB in a home game 64-79. APR rolled over Espoir on the road 113-88.



APR - Patriots 59-73

The most crucial game of the last round was the first loss of APR (7-1) at the home court on Wednesday night. Hosts were defeated by Patriots (7-0) 73-59. It was a key game for the top position in the league. Patriots forced 20 APR turnovers. They looked well-organized offensively handing out 21 assists. Great defensive blocking was one of the keys in this match when Patriots made 9 blocks. It was a great evening for American forward William Perry (183-1994, college: Lenoir-Rhyne) who led his team to a victory with a double-double by scoring 24 points and 11 rebounds. Dieudonne Ndizeye helped adding 24 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists. Patriots' coach Henry Mwinuka used a ten-player rotation which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. At the losing side American-Georgian guard Michael Dixon (186-1990, college: Memphis) responded with 17 points and 5 rebounds and American power forward Dario Hunt (204-1989, college: Nevada) scored 7 points and 14 rebounds. Patriots have an impressive series of seven victories in a row. They keep a position of league leader. Defending champion APR keeps the second place with one game lost.
Top scorers:
APR: M.Dixon 17+5reb+2ast, N.Habimana 11+3reb+3ast, A.Filer 10+4reb+2ast, W.Nshobozwa 7+5reb+2ast, D.Hunt 7+14reb+2ast, W.Bush 5+6reb+1ast
Patriots: W.Perry 24+11reb+3ast, N.Dieudonne 24+9reb+4ast, S.Hagumintwari 18+9reb+3ast, K.Betoudji 2+13reb+2ast, K.Olivier 2+1reb+2ast, N.Scekic 2+4reb+2ast

Inspired Gen. - K-Titans 67-83

K-Titans has finally registered their first victory this season after six consecutive losses. The win is especially important as it came on the road game in , where they defeated Inspired Gen. (0-7) 83-67 on Saturday. K-Titans forced 21 Inspired Gen. turnovers and outrebounded them 53-38 including 18 on the offensive glass. Great defensive blocking was one of the keys in this match when K-Titans made 9 blocks. DR Congolese Jordan Mbaki (190-2001) fired 26 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists for the winners. DR Congolese forward Bienvenue Bolangi (194-2001) chipped in 18 points and 8 rebounds. Joseph Lambe-Embola produced 16 points and 5 rebounds and forward Patrick Rugamba added 10 points and 10 rebounds respectively for lost side. Five Inspired Gen. players scored in double figures. Both coaches used bench players and allowed the starting five to rest. K-Titans maintains ninth place with 1-6 record. It was Inspired Gen.'s seventh loss in a row. Newly promoted team still closes the standings with seven games lost.
Top scorers:
Inspired Gen.: M.Bruno 16+6reb, L.Joseph 16+5reb+3ast, N.Cedrick 13+6reb+3ast, K.Freddy 10+2reb+2ast, R.Patrick 10+10reb+3ast, I.Kevin 2+6reb+1ast
K-Titans: M.Jordan 26+5reb+6ast, B.Bienvenue 18+8reb+2ast, K.Philippe 13+5reb+6ast, T.Josue 7+4reb+2ast, H.Patrick 6+6reb, M.Elvis 6+15reb+2ast

Orion - Inspired Gen. 91-76

The game between closely ranked teams ended with bottom-ranked Inspired Gen.'s (0-7) road loss to ninth ranked Orion (1-4) 76-91 on Wednesday. Orion forced 25 Inspired Gen. turnovers and outrebounded them 52-37 including 19 on the offensive glass. American guard Elias Ezenekwe (193, college: Antelope Valley) fired 35 points (!!!) and 8 steals for the winners. His fellow American import David Atkinson (203-1991, college: Salem) chipped in a double-double by scoring 22 points and 10 rebounds. Freddy Kwizera (-1996) produced 19 points and 4 assists and forward Patrick Rugamba added 14 points and 7 rebounds respectively for lost side. Both coaches tested many bench players saving starting five for next games. It was the only win of host team this round and in all other games visitors recorded victories. Orion left bottom position moving up to eighth place. It was Inspired Gen.'s seventh loss in a row. Newly promoted team still closes the standings with seven games lost.
Top scorers:
Inspired Gen.: K.Freddy 19+4ast, R.Patrick 14+7reb+1ast, I.Kevin 12+4reb, N.Cedrick 7+9reb+3ast, M.Bruno 7+6reb+2ast, M.Duke 6+3reb+7ast
Orion: E.Ezenekwe 35+2reb+3ast, D.Atkinson 22+10reb+2ast, I.Jules 9+11reb+1ast, M.Patrick 6+4reb, N.Gedeon 6+1reb+2ast, M.Mike 6+6reb+1ast

K-Titans - UGB 64-79

Rather predictable result when seventh ranked UGB (3-4) defeated on the road 9th ranked K-Titans (1-6) 79-64 on Wednesday. UGB dominated down low during the game scoring 58 of its points in the paint compared to K-Titans' 34. UGB forced 20 K-Titans turnovers. They looked well-organized offensively handing out 28 assists comparing to just 14 passes made by K-Titans' players. Center Shaffi Habineza (-1997) fired a double-double by scoring 17 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists for the winners. Naturalized DR Congolese Espoir Aganze (-1994) chipped in 14 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists. Five UGB players scored in double figures. DR Congolese forward Bienvenue Bolangi (194-2001) produced a double-double by scoring 16 points and 15 rebounds and Elvis Mpeti added 8 points and 15 rebounds respectively for lost side. Both coaches tested many bench players saving starting five for next games. UGB moved-up to fifth place, which they share with Espoir and Tigers. Loser K-Titans keep the ninth position with six games lost.
Top scorers:
K-Titans: M.Jordan 17+2reb+1ast, B.Bienvenue 16+15reb+1ast, K.Philippe 10+3reb+5ast, M.Elvis 8+15reb+2ast, M.Jerry 5+5reb, R.Christian 4+1ast
UGB: H.Shaffi 17+13reb+5ast, R.Jean-Marie 15+5reb, A.Espoir 14+6reb+9ast, A.Saidi 14+6reb+1ast, I.Emmanuel 10+6reb+4ast, B.Yannick 7+1reb+4ast

Espoir - APR 88-113

Not a big story in a game in Kigali where 5th ranked Espoir (3-4) was rolled over by second ranked APR (7-1) 113-88 on Wednesday. APR forced 21 Espoir turnovers. They looked well-organized offensively handing out 26 assists. The former international guard Adonis Filer (195-1993, college: FAU) fired 22 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists for the winners. American guard Zion Styles (190-2000, college: UMES) chipped in 22 points and 8 rebounds. Five APR players scored in double figures. Fortunate Mwanawabene produced a double-double by scoring 28 points and 10 rebounds and Chadian forward Ronald Nato (199-1992) added 22 points and 12 rebounds respectively for lost side. The winner was already known earlier in the game, so both coaches allowed to play the bench players saving starting five for next games. Defending champion maintains second place with 7-1 record having just one point less than leader Patriots. Loser Espoir keeps the fifth position with four games lost. They share it with UGB and Tigers.
Top scorers:
Espoir: M.Fortunate 28+10reb+2ast, R.Nato 22+12reb+3ast, M.Abdoul 10+4reb, S.Didier 9+3reb+1ast, N.Gakuru 7+2reb+1ast, M.Eric 4+8reb+1ast
APR: A.Filer 22+6reb+5ast, Z.Styles 22+8reb+2ast, W.Robeyns 17+6reb+5ast, W.Bush 14+9reb, W.Nshobozwa 14+4reb+2ast, N.Habimana 11+5reb+7ast

Tigers - Kepler 67-85

Very significant was Kepler's (#6) 18-point road victory against 4th placed Tigers 85-67. Kepler dominated down low during the game scoring 52 of its points in the paint compared to Tigers' 30. Kepler forced 22 Tigers turnovers. Their players were unselfish on offense dishing 22 assists. It was an exceptional evening for Canadian guard Chad Bowie (188-1996, college: SHSU) who led the winners and scored 29 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals. Cyiza Twizeyimana accounted for 18 points and 15 rebounds for the winning side. Nigerian power forward Francis Azolibe (206-1999) came up with 16 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 6 blocks and Pacifique Mutabazi (-2003) added 12 points and 7 rebounds respectively for Tigers in the defeat. Tigers' coach rotated twelve players seeing no chance for a win. Kepler (4-3) moved-up to fourth place. Tigers at the other side dropped to the fifth position with four games lost. They share it with Espoir and UGB.
Top scorers:
Tigers: A.Francis 16+9reb+4ast, M.Pacifique 12+7reb+3ast, P.Nshizirungu 12+5reb+2ast, N.Patrick 9+9reb, T.Nkundwa 7, I.Clay 5+3reb+2ast
Kepler: C.Bowie 29+6reb+7ast, T.Cyiza 18+15reb+3ast, C.Done 11+4reb+4ast, A.Mugabe 8+4reb+4ast, J.Ndoli 8+14reb+2ast, S.Victor 7+1reb+1ast