The City Oilers shall be playing in a 10th consecutive National Basketball League Final, and this comes after they completed the sweep with a 78:63 victory against the UCU Canons on Wednesday, 21st, at the Lugogo Indoor Arena.

Debutant Petty Parish stole the show after dropping 14 points in the fourth quarter which left the crowd screaming in awe.

After very close encounters in games one and two, the UCU Canons were fired to finally get a win and force game 3.

The City Oilers were also very intent on closing the deal and early exchanges pointed towards a captivating encounter.

The Oilers had multiple sources of offense while the Canons got big points from Peter Sifuma who was feasting inside the Paint.

Titus Lual scored 3 3-point shots in the second quarter, but UCU’s Sifuma continued to wreak havoc. Marvin Jesse, Emmanuel Makuei, and Jerry Kayanga came on and made big contributions to tie the game by halftime.

The UCU Canons were on a roll to start the third quarter as they made a 15:2 run in the first 4 minutes.

All seemed to be going according to plan and they appeared to have figured out both defense and offense.

After a couple of substitutions from both teams, the UCU Canons did not score again in the quarter.

The early foul trouble they had accumulated also cost them to a small extent and City Oilers scored 5 of their next 11 points from the free throw line.

It was utter demolition in the fourth quarter, as the Oilers ran riot.

The UCU Canons scored 7 points in the first 2 minutes but there after, it was punishment after punishment.

It was quick transition for the Oilers, and Petty Parish scored 4 back-to-back 3 point shots in about 90 seconds. In that time, the UCU Canons made 3 turnovers for which they were punished severely and the game went to finish 78:63.

Match Stats

City Oilers

Titus Lual 25 pts, 7 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk

Malual Dier 11 pts, 13 reb, 1 ast, 4 stl, 1 blk

Ivan Muhwezi 14 pts, 6 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl

Petty Parish 14 pts, 2 reb

UCU Canons

Peter Sifuma 25 pts, 8 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk

Jerry Kayanga 10 pts, 5 reb, 2 ast

Post Game Reactions

Malual Dier put up a statement performance, his best so far in an Oilers uniform and he was very proud of what himself. He was the only player with a double-double and in his 32 minutes, he had 0 turnovers.

“I feel better getting back to my ways of doing the simple things like picking rebounds and contributing to the scoring. For this game, we had one big man down and i had to step in and do what the big man can do”

Malual will be a very big asset for the Oilers now that Mer Maker and Edrine Walujo will not be available for an already thin Oilers squad.

Petty Parish did not get the rosy introduction to the NBL as he got hit on the head barely 30 seconds into his debut.

However, he had the last laugh after scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter, with 12 coming in about 2 minutes from consecutive 3-point shots.

“My performance was not that good. I made an airball and i missed a couple of shots that i normally make and i just had to get used to the physicality of this league. The guys on the other team (UCU Canons) play hard and physical and when you go to the paint, they hit you“

When asked about that winning feeling, he had this to say;

“It felt good, knowing that i hadn’t played well.  In the first half i was beat up and i helped the team (in the end) to get the win”

The City Oilers shall be meeting the winner between the KIU Titans and Namuwongo Blazers but as things stand, the Titans lead the series 2:1 with game 4 on Thursday 22nd.