It was one of the old testament Bible tales, David defeats Goliath as the Ndejje Angels put the Juggernaut “city oilers” to rest on Wednesday Night at NCS indoor Arena.

City Oilers were handed their first loss of the season by relegation threatened Ndejje Angels who seemed to have found a new energy in the second round.

Having put down UCU Canons not so long ago, the Angels have once again defied all odds and taken down the 8 time Champions who had thus far proved to be “unbeatable”, winning all their first 17 games.

The Angels started the game strongly making a 13:00 run to make it a 12 point game midway the first quarter.

The Oilers however made 3 quick unanswered buckets to make it a 5 point game but the Angels went on to add to their points eventually making it a 10 point game to close the quarter.

Normality seemed to have been restored in the second quarter when the Oilers turned the tides around and took the game by storm eventually taking the lead. The Angels on the other hand looked as though they had lost the magic from the first quarter.

Oilers made 11 quick poings to start the quarter and they took the lead with 7:17 on the clock.

The rest of the quarter was characterized by many missed shots but the Oilers held on to go to half time with a 4 point lead.

There was a quick exchange of baskets to start the 3rd quarter but the Oilers maintained their lead.

Things however turned into the favor of the Ndejje Angels midway the 3rd quarter after Samuel Ajak made 3 back to back 3 point shots to make it a 1 point game with 4:01 left.

They then went on to have a 16:00 run making it a 12 point game.

Oilers closed with a 5:0 run of their own making it a 7 point game heading into the 4th quarter.

Cikom Monybai hit 2 big 3 point shots to start the fourth which gave the Angels a comfortable 13 point lead.

The Oilers fought tooth and nail to try to get back in the game bringing the difference to 5 on 2 occasions but the Angels wouldn’t give it up as they kept punishing the Oilers on every opportunity.

Tony Drileba was the only man trying to keep the Oilers in the game scoring 15 consecutive points for them in the fourth.

Match facts

The Oilers made just a single basket in the first 6 minutes of the game.

They also made just 5 of 21 attempted shots in the first quarter.

Ndejje made 8 turnovers in the second quarter and was restricted to just 7 points.

Oilers shot 30/85, 35% FG and 10/39, 25% 3P while Ndejje Angels shot 30/75, 40% FG and 13/39, 39% 3P.

They also registered more assists (22) compared to 17 for the Angels.

Ndejje Angels went to the Free throw line a staggering 33 times and made just 15 while the Oilers had 10/13.

Samuel Ajak was named player of the game after a stellar performance, playing the whole game and posting 23 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 6 steals and 1 block, 4 3PM and 44 % FG.

Gatwang Thuok also put us a monstrous performance with 23 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals.

Haron Arinaitwe came up clutch with 4 huge Free throws but also contributed strongly 13 points, 2 assits, 2 rebounds, 1 steal and 60% FG.

Cikom Monybai came up very big with those back to back 3 point shots to start the fourth. He posted an impressive 13 points, 7 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, 55% FG and 3 3PM.

Joseph Kumbai (9 points), and Bolton Rujumba were phenomenal off the glass with 12 and 10 rebounds respectively.

Tony Drileba led the scoring for the Oiler with 20 points but 17 coming in the fourth quarter. He also added 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 1 block.

Fayed Baale was also another impressive player posting 14 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.

Ben Komakech and Mer Maker both scored 10 while Ruai Luak scored 11.

The biggest surprise of the night was Titus Lual being pocketed and taken out of the game completely. In the 21:26 minutes on the floor, he didn’t score any point and had just 4 rebounds. To make it worse, he had 4 personal fouls and had 4 turnovers.

Talking points

The notion that City Oilers is unbeatable have been crushed.

Ndejje is looking to make a playoff run, with 6 wins in 16, tied with KCCA Panthers who are currently in 7th.

UPDF (5 wins) have however played more games than the 2 and thus when they game numbers are level, Ndejje and KCCA will climb in the standings.

If Ndejje push and most likely get 8 position, there’s a possibility of them meeting the Oilers again in the playoff quarter finals.

All photos 📸 Toni Kamau/FUBA