HOIMA (Uganda) - The last game of Group D at the Hoima City Arena was full of excitement, as you would expect from two evenly matched teams. In the end, Urunani walked away with a 81-79 win, advancing to the East Division Elite 16 with a perfect 4-0 record.
“It’s a good feeling [to finish 4-0]; we came here to win it all,” Urunani head coach Elvis Hakizimana said.
“The first game against COSPN was a test for us, and fortunately we won it. We didn’t have enough time back home to build our chemistry, but our guys showed up and did a good job, especially against Patriot and Namuwongo, who were very physical,” Hakizimana summed up the tournament.
Urunani managed to quiet the home crowd when they established a double-digit lead through the first quarter and early stages of the second.
However, as the Blazers rallied back late in the quarter, the crowd was back on its feet as Peter Obleng hit a go-ahead corner three-pointer at the buzzer for a 45-43 halftime lead for Namuwongo.
Uranani controlled the third quarter and had a 5-point advantage heading into the final quarter, but Namuwongo quickly erased it with a 9-0 run to start the fourth.
From that point, the Blazers slowed the tempo of the game, walking through their half-court sets on every possession, while Urunani preferred running the ball up the court quickly.
From the quick ball movement, Urunani twice found Mahamane Coulibaly open at the forty-five, and the versatile forward hit back-to-back triples that ultimately turned out to be the difference in the entertaining game.
“For me, Coulibaly is the best player on the continent, the versatility and all. He can do everything on the court. He can defend 1 to 4; he gives us a lot of flexibility on the court,” Hakizimana said of his star forward.
Coulibaly finished with a team-high 23 points, with Tyrone Stubbs (17), Chingka Garba (15) and Bamba Diallo (14) off the bench contributing in double figures.
Jonathan Jordan scored 25 points in a losing effort for the Blazers; Franck Nyembo added 14, Obleng contributed 12, while Makhtar Gueye, who struggled on the night, scored 10 points.
Both Urunani and the Blazers secured one of the two automatic spots in the East Division Elite 16 group.
FIBA