Undoubtedly the most intense game in the playoffs, and with their backs against the wall, the KCCA Panthers unleashed the ‘dawg’ in them and managed to win Game 2, 62:79, against the UCU Canons.
The KCCA Panthers came out strong and very aggressive in the first quarter and as a result, they took the lead 13:20.
In the second, they maintained the script and kept pressing very high, and the Canons scored just 10 points.
At the halftime break, the Panthers led the game 39-23 and everything was going according to plan.
For the UCU Canons, on the other hand, their offense was stuck due to the pressure, and they seemed to have no plan B.
The third quarter put the Panthers in an even much more comfortable position. The Panthers scored 26 to 17 for the UCU Canons, and the main source of offense was Assimwe Davis, who had 10 points in that quarter.
With a 25-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, it was a matter of running down the clock, and despite the final gasps by the Canons, the game was out of reach, and the Panthers won 79:62.
Talking points
Defense.
The KCCA Panthers came with a mission to play hard on the defense end and straight from the first quarter, the employed the Full Court Press. The Panthers were very aggressive, present in the faces of the Canons and they never stopped playing hard.
As a result, they managed to 20 turnovers and scored 21 points from turnovers.
During a post game interview, KCCA Panthers coach Raymond Muhumuza revealed that the full court defense was a thing they had planned.
“Part of the plan was to go toe to toe with them, we relied on it throughout the game and it paid off”
Discipline
Many the full court press was engaged early on, many thought that there would be foul trouble for the Panthers. However, in the first quarter, the Panthers recorded just 2 Fouls. In the second where they 4 fouls in the first 3 minutes, they were able to stay disciplined for the remainder of the quarter. They added just 2 more fouls in the last 7 minutes and sent the Canons 3 times to the free throw line.
In the subsequent quarter, they went into foul trouble but it all happened later in the quarters and the Canons went to the line a total of 16 times, missing 11 of those which was advantageous to the Panthers.
3-point shooting
The Panthers did a very good job of guarding the perimeter and cutting off the UCU Canons’ 3-point shooting.
The Canons had just 4 attempts from beyond the arc in the first half and they only managed to make 1. On the other hand, the Panthers scored 4 of their 12 attempts and this was due to the quick ball movement they had that created opportunities for open shots.
Match Stats
KCCA Panthers
Davis Asiimwe 22 pts, 2 reb, 1 ast, 5 stl
Emmanuel Odongkara 12 pts, 12 reb, 2 ast
Stephen Otoa 10 pts, 9 reb, 2 astz 2 stl
UCU Canons
Abraham Isyagi 11 pts, 7 reb, 1 ast
Jerry Samson Kayanga 10 pts, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl
Coaches and Players remarks
“Our focus at that point was the fourth quarter. We knew UCU would make a run and all we needed to do was stay calm. We couldn’t get carried away because of a 25-point lead, we had to stay calm all the way” Coach Raymond commented on their lead heading into the fourth quarter.
“We wanted it. I can’t say it’s my performance, it was a team effort” Davis Assimwe commented about his 22 point game performance.
“The plan coming into this game was to limit their rebounds and 3-point attempts and also to take one possession at a time” he added.
“When we watched film, we saw that UCU didn’t have anything special that they did. They just started off well, had a run and maintained it. We saw that our start is everything. It was intentional, coming in hard in the first minutes and we followed the game plan” Caesar Kizito also talked about their plan coming into the game.
This is the only quarter-finals game that has gone to game 3 and the series shall be concluded on Friday 2nd at YMCA Court.
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