The Nkumba Marines kicked the dust of Game 1’s loss off their feet and they bounced back in spectacular fashion to win game 2 and force game 3.

The Marines started well from the jump and they had a 6 point lead to close the first quarter. Livingstone were plagued by turnovers, they registered 9 turnovers in the first quarter alone thus giving Nkumba more possessions.

Livingstone came out strong to start the second quarter and they went on a 7:0 run to take the lead.

Mayep Majok scored the final 7 points for the Nkumba, including a 3-point buzzer beater, and they turned out to be very important points.

The third quarter took a while to get alive, there was just 2 made field goals in the first 5 minutes, 1 for each.

The teams exchanged a couple of buckets in the final 5 minutes but what stood out most was the lack of sharpness by Livingstone on the Free Throw line missing all their last 4 attempts.

Livingstone made just 2 Field Goals in 8 minutes and the Marines, who couldn’t seem to miss had already made it a 22 point game.

Key takeaways

The game came down to rebounds and it was very evident that Nkumba won that by a mile. They out rebounded Livingstone both offensively and defensively and a total 15 rebounds.

The Marines also did a wonderful job of sharing the ball and as a result they registered 18 assists, 8 more than Livingstone. This sharing of the ball helped create space and easy scoring opportunities for the players.

The bench is also another key factor in the game. Isaiah Mulunda scored 13 points off the bench whereas Adolf Assimwe scored 8 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals.

Livingstone on the other hand lacked impact players and thus had no plan B after the game had gone out of their hands.

Stats

Mayep Majok 23 pts, 7 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk

Ezra Owen Alenga 10 pts, 12 reb, 3 ast, 4 stl, 2 blk

Arop Mahol 7 pts, 10 reb, 2 stl

Isaiah Mulunda 13 pts

Adolf Assimwe 8 pts, 8 reb, 6 ast, 4 stl

Joshua Namutegere 15 pts, 5 rebs, 3 ast

Bismarck Okot 10 pts, 11 reb, 5 stl

Game 3 will be happening on Sunday and this is very important for both teams. Nkumba who have an NBL Championship in their cabinet seek to return to league of big boys, whereas Livingstone who were number 1 seed in 2022 but lost in the semifinals, also look to make that big jump and join the big boys