City Oilers book Basketball Africa League Second Round Qualifiers ticket

DAR ES SALAAM (Tanzania) - With three straight wins in the bag, Ugandan side City Oilers have qualified to the next round of the Basketball Africa League Qualifying Tournament scheduled for next month and December. 

Mandy Juruni's side survived an early scare in the first half before going on to defeat stubborn hosts JKT 85-56 in a victory that shone a limelight on their character and discipline as a team that has grown in leaps and bounds over the years. 

“AS A CLUB WITH THE AMBITIONS THAT WE HAVE, THIS WAS OUR BIGGEST GAME BECAUSE WINNING IT MEANS WE HAVE QUALIFIED TO THE NEXT ROUND BUT I AM HAPPY THAT WE PULLED IT OFF AND MANAGED TO CALM DOWN NERVES AND DID THE THINGS WE WERE SUPPOSED TO HAVE DONE FROM THE BEGINNING. ”- Juruni

JKT led 18-9 in the first quarter much to the excitement of the home fans who celebrated each basket, rebound and steal to pile pressure on the Oilers who soaked in the pressure really well. 

An improvement on defense in the second quarter saw the Oilers take charge of the game even when they were faced with the problem that was point guard Jordin Mayes amassing four fouls by the half time break. 

They were comforted by the scoreline that had them leading 42-36 but after a toughly-contested first quarter, the Oilers were not taking anything for granted. 

The Ugandan side opened up a 23-point gap at the end of the third quarter even though it came at a cost - dependable captain James Okello found himself in foul trouble but veteran Stephen Omony came in and did all the dirty work amassing nine points and seven rebounds. 

Shooting guard Robinson Opong sunk 29 points and picked six rebounds while two-time Zone 5 MVP center Landry Ndikumana recorded the game's only double double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. 

"As a club with the ambitions that we have, this was our biggest game because winning it means we have qualified to the next round but I am happy that we pulled it off and managed to calm down nerves and did the things that we were supposed to have done from the beginning," explained Oilers head coach Juruni. 

Juruni believes this was his team's biggest game

JKT have themselves to blame for sloppy defense in the second half of the game and captain Baraka Athumani admitted to "mistakes" that cost them the game. 

He said, "We started the game very well but we lost concentration and made some mistakes in the third quarter and from there, we failed to catchup and eventually lost the game."

Meanwhile, Patriots from Rwanda emphatically defeated Ethiopian side Hawassa 125-50 to register the highest scoring game of the competition. 

Six players recorded double figures with the explosive Elly Ruzigande and Kenneth Gasana leading the charge with 23 points. Michael Ongesa, Steven Hagumintwari, Lionel Hakizimana and Guiberty Nijimbere added 13, 12, 11 and 10 points in that order. 

Ruzigande said, "Now we are beginning to feel the competition. Today, we were much better than in our first game. We worked hard and played good defense overall. This is who we are. Our target remains to win every game that we play." 

Ruzigande was unstoppable against Hawassa

Hawassa are winless in three games and therefore out of contention for a place to the next round but point guard Nathnael Asmalu admitted that the experience they are attaining from playing against top level teams is definitely worth it. 

FIBA