JOHANNESBURG (South Africa) - City Oilers over powered Ferroviario da Beira 88-72 in the final Group B game of the Road to BAL East Division qualifiers at the Ellis Park Arena in Johannesburg on Thursday.

Going into this final Group B encounter, both teams were 2-0. The game started at a high-octane pace, and it was the Oilers who took the initiative and never loosened their grip.

TURNING POINT: Third quarter saw the Uganda club finish with a 15-point lead. The Oilers were ruthless and did not let Beira club settle. They executed well in offence and forced Beira into committing errors.

Crucial three-pointers from Falando Jones, Ngor Barnaba and Jimmy Enabu allowed the Uganda team to pull away.

GAME HERO: The heroes for the Oilers were Ngor Barnaba (17), Falando Cortez Jones (17) and Germaine Roebuck Jr (17). The trio were on song in attack for the Oilers. Barnaba was 5/9 from behind the arc. Jones played well at the defensive end making two blocks, and two steals and providing five assists.

STATS DON'T LIE: The defensive effort of the Oilers was what would win the game for them, the Ugandan club forced Beira into committing turnovers (22) and made seven blocks.

BOTTOMLINE: The Ugandans were a well oiled-machine in this game. They executed way better than Ferroviario in the final group game and were deserving winners of the game.

THEY SAID: "We have been getting better with every game. It's something we have talked about and I am happy the players are responding. You can see there is a huge difference from the opening game to the last. Now we are going to the stage where it matters, and in the back of our minds we know we have not done anything." - City Oilers head coach Mandy Juruni.

"We reached our first goal. We wanted to come together, prove people wrong and we showed we can play good basketball. Tonight we did that. The job is not done, we have to put our heads down and keep working." City Oiler player Ngor Barnaba.

"Today we looked tired and did not have the right energy. We did not play hard. Our problem was our energy at both ends. The good thing is that we can rest tommorow, and we can get ready for Saturday." -  Beira head coach Luis Hernandez.

"I think we were a little tired. There some tired bodies on the court today. We came from competing in our league and then had to travel to South Africa. But we are in the final four, and we are confident in ourselves. There are two games to be played and we have to win one of them," - Ferroviario da Beira guard Will Perry.

 FIBA