Africa-Press – Rwanda. Stakes are high with one more spot left to the Basketball Africa League (BAL) 2023 and East African clubs Urunani and City Oilers will battle it out at the Ellis Park Arena on Sunday, November 27 in do-or-die third-place playoff decider.
The two clubs are familiar with each other, having already gone head-to-head in the preliminary qualifiers in Tanzania in October in a duel won by Burundi’s Urunani.
Now, in what appears to be the most important game of the season for either team, it’s fair to ask who takes the only ticket remaining for the BAL 2023.
Both clubs lost their semi-final battles on Saturday against qualified Ferroviario da Beira and Cape Town Tigers, but they will have to lift themselves and use their remaining energy reserves to earn the right to play in the continental basketball showpiece next year.
Urunani, who lost to Mozambique’s Ferroviário da Beira (68-62) in Saturday’s first semi-final, will be counting on point guard Adonis Filer to spearhead their offense and use his magic to inspire the Burundian club to their BAL participation.
Filer, an American-Rwandan, had a poor scoring game by his standards against Beira on Saturday as he could only manage nine points in the crunch game.
Team captain Landry Ndikumana will also need to rediscover his form if he is to help his team cope with the Tigers’ threat.
Since his opening-game double-double (18 points and 14 rebounds), Ndikumana has struggled throughout the qualifiers. He did manage nine points when he started off the bench against Beira.
A solid performance from the power forward could help change the fortunes of Urunani.
Meanwhile, Uganda’s City Oilers will hope Falando Jones can continue being the heartbeat of the team’s offense.
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