GISEMBE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT FINALS JUNE 11, 2006

Espoir Basketball team extended their invitations to the Great lake region in this year’s edition of the Gisembe memorial tournament. Gisembe Ntarugera Emmanuel was a star player for Espoir before he was killed in the barbaric act of 1994 genocide in Rwanda 10 years ago.
The tournament has attracted teams from Burundi and DRCongo. In the qualifying rounds of the game to acquire teams to represent Rwanda, host Espoir suffered major upsets.

Espoir 62 - UGB 64:
Espoir lost game one to United Generations Basketball – UGB (formerly Kigali City – KCBC) in an entertaining qualifying round at Amahoro stadium. The teams traded baskets when the game started and later UGB took the game under control and established a 00 -00 lead in the 1st quarter. Host Espoir rallied back to the game to close the gap at halftime with UGB leading 42 – 35. Espoir played hard to capture a lead of 53 50 but this was short-lived when Mugunga Louis, UGBs star shooting forward nailed a 3 point shot to tie the game. UGB recaptured their lead to end the 3rd quarter 5_ - 5-. The 4th quarter was a constant trade of baskets that saw UGB win the game 64 – 62. Mugunga lead the city lads with game high 26 points, 8 rebounds. Manu, the UGB point guard added16 points and 4 assists. UGB Coach Nizeyimana Jean De Dieu was pleased with his teams’ performance and promised a better final against winner between APR and AGF.

APR 78 – AGF 75:
The military side had to keep away the ball from AGF to have their 3 point win to qualify for the finals of the elimination games. APR started the game in a high note flowing with ease in their transition offense. This gave them an early lead of 12 – 4. As the quarter progressed, APR lost momentum but maintained their lead of 26 -20 in the 1st quarter. AGF that had acquired the services of KIE's point guard Barame Aboubacar and centre Kimenyi Jacque who both are national team players, bounced back with great momentum that saw the league champions struggle. AGF controlled the pace to lead 38 -35 at halftime. In the 3rd quarter, AGF maintained their pressure. Despite the changes the APR tactician Cliff Owuor made, AGF did not breakdown. The army side won the quarter with a point but AGF maintained a 2 point lead. Coach Cliff had to dig deep into his wealth of knowledge that bore results in the dying minutes to give the APR a 6pt lead. AGF threw in their last strength and could only mange to cut down 3 pts. Coach Cliff was relieved. “If you can miss 132 points and still win a game, you need to give credit to your defense. We executed well but our finishing was very, very poor. If we finish well, the game tomorrow would be a lot easier.” Said the Kenyan tactician.

AGF 75 – Espoir 69:
Despite AGF upsetting Espoir to bundle them out of their own tournament, Espoir had to muscle their way to the Final rounds of the Gisembe Memorial tournament, a move that angered AGF as reported in the Thursday, June 8 edition of the New Times. AGF controlled the tempo of the game much of the time. Espoir although led at halftime, their lead was short lived and AGF led by veteran Rutalindwa Paul, had a field day nailing crucial three 3pt shots and a 2pt shot for 11 points in the last three minutes of the game. Paul led AGF with 24pts, Fisto added 18 and Captain Gishoma added 17pts.

APR 85 – UGB 55:
APR had a great run of the floor including 5 dunks to beat helpless UGB 30pts in the finals of the qualifying rounds. It was the clubs youngest player, 18 year old Kanyabugoyi Gael nicknamed “Baby Shaq” dunk on the buzzer after a break away that took the fans to the floor. APR set the pace from jump ball and showed dominance with crisp passes, strong post play and accurate shooting from the 3pt line. After the surprise lose of the army side to UGB in the preseason tournament, APR did not want to take chances and exerted pressure on their opponents. The city lads could not take the great hustle from the military side. Coach Cliff had to rest his entire starting five in the 4th quarter. “We play team ball and like I said, our execution is good and if our finishing is good, then the game will always be a lot easier. We had to concentrate more while playing UGB to avoid what happened last time” repeated the confident Kenyan tactician. “I think we’ll go along way in the tournament.” He added

The final tournament had six teams, APR, UGB, and Espoir (Rwanda), Dynamo (Burundi), Goma and Bukavu (DRCongo).           

POOL A	POOL B
APR (Rwanda)	Espoir (Rwanda)
UGB (Rwanda)	Dynamo (Burundi)
Goma (DR Congo)	Bukavu (DR Congo)

APR 81 – UGB 53:
APR still showed their dominance despite UGB acquiring the services UNR’s centre Cyenge Patrick. APR who were at the UGB grounds struggled in the 1st quarter to lead 21-20 after trading baskets with the home side. The difference came in the 2nd quarter when the Lions defense stepped up and went on an offensive onslaught to beat UGB 30 – 8 to lead 51- 28 at the breather. APR came back in the 3rd quarter to win widen the gap and continued to play hard to win the 4th quarter. Gedeka Kajeguhakwa led APR with 24pts and Boula added 15pts for the army side.

Espoir 66- Ami Beki 49:
After a disappointing weekend, host Espoir reorganized their side; hiring the services of Ugandan power forward Henry Malinga and their Uganda based players Jean Louis and Rutayisire Gigi. Espoir had a good offensive run from the blow of the whistle. Ami Beki could not stop Malinga who controlled both the offensive and defensive boards that allowed an easy transition for the hosts winning the game 21pts.

UGB 77– Goma Relax 86:
UGB lost their 18 point lead to lose to the visiting Goma Relax. UGB who were up 22 – 8, grabbed an early 14 point lead in the 1st quarter. They extended their lead to 18 points in the second minute of the 2nd quarter prompting the Goma coach to call an early timeout. Goma returned to the floor more focused and cut down their 18pt deficit to 10 in the fifth minute. Their consistent defensive pressure forced UGB to commit several errors that saw them cut down the lead to 1point at half time. Game momentum changed in the 3rd quarter with Goma taking a quick 6pt lead in the second minute and never looked back. They widened the gap to 12 pts to end the quarter. UGB worked hard to make a come back but could only manage to cut down 3pts to lose 86 – 77. Goma’s Arma was outstanding leading his team with 24pts and Lukasu added 13pts.    

Espoir 83 – Dynamo 65:
Uniweza Valerie, Espoir’s key shooter lit the gym with six 3pt shots that gave his team a quick and wide margin in the 2nd quarter of the match to lead 46 – 32 at halftime. The depleted Dynamo team had very little to offer as Espoir opened a 20pt lead to end the 3rd quarter. Espoir coach Arsene pulled out his entire first team in the 4th quarter but this did not hurt Espoir as they continued to execute well until the last 2 minutes of the game when Dynamo pressed the team to cut down to 18pts.
 
APR 82– Goma Relax 68:
APR fought from behind to beat Goma who led 18 -15 in the 1st quarter. The army side who were unsettled when the game started looked more focused in the 2nd quarter and snatched the lead from the visiting Goma Relax. The soldiers went up 42 – 37 at the breather. The game which became more physical and rough saw the army side win the battle although sustaining several injuries that cast doubt in the final performance against hosts Espoir. APR extended their lead to game high 17pts but was cut down in the last minute to 14pts.
 
Dynamo 68 – Ami Beki 94:
Ami Beki had a chance to show their might when they took on the Burundian side Dynamo. The friends from Bukavu led by Captain Saleh Idi and Gakari Rene outclassed the Dynamo side with strong drives to the basket and good rebounding. Saleh led his team with 18pts and Rene added 11pts.
 
APR 76 – Espoir 63:
Nikobahoze Blaise, the outstanding point guard stole the show to see his APR team cruise pasts hosts and rivals Espoir. Espoir who started the game on a high note leading 5 – 1, could not just maintain the momentum. Henry Malinga, Espoir’s guest player from Uganda picked two quick fouls that gave APR the energy to pick up. The hosts lost the lead in the last 5 minutes of the 1st quarter to end 15 – 11 in favor of APR. Espoir did a better job in the 2nd quarter to cut down the lead within 2 pts at the breather. (APR 34 – Espoir 32). But the 3rd quarter had to be different when APR returned more focused and determined to win. The Lions roared past their rivals to earn an 11pt lead. The soldiers never looked back in the fourth quarter when they widen the gap to 19 pts with 2:34 seconds to go. Espoir struggled to cut the lead and managed only 6pts to lose 76 – 63.                                    

LADIES GAMES
In the ladies category, only two teams were represented and they played two games on Saturday and Sunday with UNR winning game 2 with a high margin to lift the Gisembe memorial trophy.
APR 51 – UNR 41
APR 34 – UNR 47

In the closing ceremony presided over by the Secretary General in the ministry of Youth, Culture and Sports Mr. Karabaranga Jean Piere. The winning teams APR “Lions” and the National University of Rwanda (UNR) were awarded trophies and cash prize of Frw 300,000 each by the ministry. The President of the federation (FERWABA) Mr. Rutagarama Fidel also donated basketballs to all the participating teams.