Our Savior left Namuwongo and Basketball fans dumbfounded after a dramatic 17 point comeback in the third quarter that eventually saw them win the game.

When asked about what changed for them in the third quarter, Ssebagala Henry replied with one word, “defense”.

After that victory against KIU Titans on opening day, everyone thought the Blazers would have it easy against Our Savior and make it 2 in a row and for a moment it looked like so.

Like clockwork, everything was working for the Nam Blazers in the first half, establishing a dominant 17 point lead.

In the first 2 minutes of the third, Our Savior seemed to panic making 3 turnovers and costing them 2 points.

However, they got in the groove after that and went on an 18:1 run, tying the game with 2:34 left.

Nam Blazers did not score a point for a full 5 minutes during the third but the game was tied, into the final quarter.

The Blazers reestablished a 4 point lead with 6:46 left but things were about to get ugly for them, their next Field Goal came with 59 seconds left, more than 5 minutes without one.

Our Savior went on another wild 14:3 run to take a 7 point lead and close out the game.

Key takeaways

The biggest for the Nam Blazers was the turnovers, and the punishment they got for that. Our Savior managed to get 36 points from turnovers, almost half the team’s total. This says a lot about the inability of the Blazers to take care of the ball under immense pressure. During the game against KIU Titans, they made 22 turnovers though the Titans did not capitalise.

Who wanted it more?

The Nam Blazers got a bit complacent in the third quarter and it cost them a lot. Our Savior were fighting for everything, lose ball, rebounds, aggressive defending resulting in steals (17) whereas the Blazers regressed a bit in the second half.

The 3 point shot also made a huge difference in the game. The Blazers made just 2, both coming in the first quarter and things weren’t working after that. On the other hand, Our Savior who had only made one in the first half got some rhythm, scoring 5 in the second and that helped their momentum. Joseph Wacha buried 3 in the third quarter which strongly boosted Our Savior.

Match Stats

Our Savior

Wacha Joseph 17 pts, 67% FG, 6 rebs, 4 ast

Moses Mugisha 17 pts, 10 reb, 2 ast, 6 stl, 2 blk

Ssebagala Henry 10 pts, 3 reb, 6 stl

Mesho k 12 pts, 9 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl

Nam Blazers

Peter Cheng 11 pts, 5 ast

Paul Odong 10 pts, 3 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl