Following their 71-62 victory over Urunani for the Third-place playoff to qualify for the Basketball Africa League, City Oilers coach Mandy Juruni asserted the entire nation got victorious.
The Ugandan representatives broke the jinx and qualified for the coveted competition for the first time ever.
“I am happy and proud of my players. The work that we have put in over the last three years has finally paid off,” said Juruni following the win.
“In-game, I looked at my bench a bit more. In the Semi-Final against the Tigers, our top guys played heavy minutes, and you could see they were not at their best. So we needed guys to come off the bench, and they gave us good minutes.
“The win means a lot for our country. Ugandan basketball has been on the rise at the national team level. Now we are going to play in a top league in Africa.”
In the Sunday encounter, the Oilers led 17-12 after the first quarter but later got threatened as their lead was cut to one point by halftime.
They however held on to win by nine points, courtesy of an impressive double double of 20 points and 11 rebounds from Germaine Roeburg.
Fayed Baale managed 12 points, five rebounds and five assists while Ngor Barnaba added 12 points.
Photos Credit: Road To BAL
