Rwanda : Espoir win Zone V Club Championship
Zone V club championship
Men, Final
Espoir (Rwa) 90-39 Urunani (Bur)
RWANDA’S Espoir have defied odds to lift this year’s Zone V Club championships after beating Burundian side Urunani in the final in Kampala.
Espoir outclassed, out-rebounded and outplayed Urunani to score 20-14 and 24-10 in the first two quarters thus enjoying a comfortable half time lead.
A further dominance in the second half 24-8 and 22-7 sealed off the well-deserved victory for the Rwandan outfit that showed maturity, excellence and revengeful payback to the Burundians who had defeated them just two days ago.
Aristide Mugabe who emerged the tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP) and top scorer put in 26 points while teammate Jean Louis Habineza scored 24 points with seven three pointers in his collection.
Kami Kabange and Bienvenue Ngandu each snatched 17 and 13 points respectively to drain Urunani’s title defense.
The last time a Rwandan side won the Zone V Club championships was in 2008 when APR clinched the title at a tournament hosted in Addis Ababa. APR also won the title in 2002 and 2007.