The Namuwongo Blazers advanced to the semifinals of the 2024 National Basketball League after completing the sweep against Our Savior.
During game one, Our Savior pushed the Blazers till the end but they ran out of gas in the final and gave way, the Blazers closing that game in the final 5 minutes.
However, during game 2, the Blazers got a lead as big as 16 points, but in the final minute of the game, it was 3-point game, which shows how hard Our Savior fought despite challenges.
It was an end to end first quarter, and by the looks of things, all signs pointed to a high scoring game as both teams scored over 20 points in the first period.
The Blazers created the separation in the second quarter after they made a 17:00 run to make it a 16-point game halfway the quarter.
Our Savior did well to score a couple of points in the final 4 minutes of the quarter and that reduced on the momentum that the Blazers had attained.
In the third quarter, Our Savior did a good job of staying within touch. Whatever the Blazers did, Our Savior countered and by the end of the quarter, it was 56:67.
Our Savior kept knocking on the door the fourth quarter but it never opened. The only time they were within striking distance, the time left on the clock was too small.
In the final 2 minutes, Our Savior made a 9:0 run to make it a 3-point game with 48 seconds left.
While it was a 5-point game, the Blazers called a timeout and straight after that, the Captain Paul Odong made a bad pass on the inbound which game Our savior the light but the time was not enough.
Talking Points
Just like in game one, Our Savior scored most of their points in transition and the Nam Blazers Coach Stephen ‘Escodata’ Nyeko admitted after the game. “Our transitional defense in the 2 games has been very bad. That’s something we’ve looked at and we have to work on”
The Blazers did not do a great job at closing out the game. They led the game most the time and despite the game being close, it did not seem like Our Savior was going to win. however in the final minute when the bad pass happened on the inbound and it was a 3-point game, Our Savior players had a lot of belief but it was too late.
“The only challenge was the closing out of the game and that’s something we have to work on. I believe we would have done so much better in the end”
For Our Savior, it was the same problems that affected them in game one. In game 1, they had 8 players available and this time around, they had only 7.
“We competed and being that we were few guys, at some point we got tired but we played our best” Our Savior guard Henry Ssebagala commented.
“I think we played well, the boys competed even without numbers” Coach Moses Okwera reacted after the game.
At some point during the game, Joseph Wach, who was already injure prior to the game was taken off by the doctors and Our Savior had just 6 players available. Joseph talked about playing despite having an injury.
“It was tough but because we had few numbers, i had to play. Before that, i hadn’t been training because i was just back from a swollen knee, i just had to strap it up and play”
Match Stats
Our Savior
Moses Mugisha 21 pts, 6 reb, 6 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk
Kenneth Mesho 16 pts, 13 reb, 2 ast
John Focus Teko 15 pts, 5 reb, 1 stl
Henry Ssebagala 10 pts, 4 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl
Nam Blazers
Peter Cheng 19 pts, 11 reb, 6 ast2 stl, 1 blk
Jimmy Williams 16 pts, 6 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl
Paul Odong 15 pts, 5 reb, 3 ast, 5 stl, 2 blk
Innocent Ochera 12 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl
The Nam Blazers await the winner between the KIU Titans and the JT Jaguars but the Titans lead the series 1:0.
The coaches and players had some post game reactions.
“I must congratulate the boys. I feel they played a better game today. They shared the ball more, trusted themselves more. That’s all I’ve been longing to see” Coach Escodata said smilingly.
About their next opponent in the semifinals, Coach Esco had this to say.
“When you’re in the playoffs, you have no choice. You have been seeded and you have to go through everybody you meet”
For Our Savior, it is the end of their season and the coach Moses Okwera and guard Henry Ssebagala had some reactions about their season.
“If the circumstances were different, it would go to game 3 or even us going through to the semifinals. we were there last year and we know what it means”
“Last season was better, we prepared well and had a big roster, that has been the difference. When it comes to wins, we had 11 last season and this season. That shows that we are a top 4 or 5 team in the league” Coach Moses commented about their season compared to the last when they finished in the semifinals.
“Despite the challenges that we had, we kept playing basketball and we have reached where we are. It was just team effort and playing basketball the way we are supposed to play it” Henry summed up Our Savior season.
Read more: Nam Blazers complete sweep against Our Savior- St Noa, Nabisunsa, Kitende eye Nationals crown: USSSA Games
- Mid-season NBL women’s transfers so far
- Oilers, Blazers bolster squads. Mid-season Men’s transfers
- Relegation battle starts to take shape: 2026 NBL
- Hamz Stadium to host NBL Games
Leave a Reply