Victoria University leads the Finals series 1-0 after defeating Rezlife Saints 82-78 in Game On on Wednesday 22nd, at the Lugogo Indoor Arena.

Both teams advanced to the finals after completing sweeps in both the quarter and semifinals and have already achieved the main objective, to get promoted to the NBL.

Rezlife Saints’ big men, Acinbai Apugi and Leonardo Gilabi were on fire in the first quarter and they were the difference.

They each scored 8 points, and combines for 16 of the 21 points for Rezlife.

To make it even more interesting, they scored with a lot of efficiency, 8/10 FG, and added 7 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.

The second quarter heavily swung in the direction of the university side but the early foul trouble had a lot of impact on that.

With 6:45 left in the quarter, both teams had reached the bonus and it became a free throw game.

Rezlife scored 4 of 9 free throws while Victoria University scored 6 1f 12 attempts.

When Rezlife Saints slowed down, Victoria University took over and they meant business.

They made a 9-0 run during the quarter and took a 4-point lead.

Faliryano Labalu was the game changer as he scored crucial points off the bench.

He scored 8 points, got 3 rebounds, and 3 steals in 5 minutes and he had the third-highest +/1 in the game with 7.

The highlight of the game happened when Ronald Ayume hit the buzzer triple to give Victoria University a 4-point lead into the halftime break.

Both teams had high scoring efficiency in the third quarter, and for everyone in the arena, they were just loving it.

Victoria University scored 26 points, 8/15 FG, including 4/8 from the 3-point range.

The Saints scored 28 points, 9/22, 4/9 from the 3-point line.

With the difference being 2 points, the fourth quarter was set to be very exciting and electric.

However, in the first 5 minutes of the final quarter, Rezlife scored just 2 points and Victoria amassed what looked like a comfortable 11-point lead.

Drama unfolded in the final 2 minutes of the game.

Victoria had a 10-point lead but instead of using the clock, they made a turnover and Rezlife scored from the line.

After a timeout, they chose to advance the ball and Joshua Maiba made a block on Nyong.

Seconds later, Caleb Katumba made a triple to make it a 5-point game with more than a minute left but Victoria managed to see out the game.

Match Stats

Victoria University

Joseph Kumbai 19 pts, 18 reb, 2 stl, 5 blk

Cyrus Wobusobozi 15 pts, 5 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl

Marier Nyong 12 pts, 1 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl

Cedric Alema 9 pts, 8 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk

Rezlife Saints

Gideon Kasasa 15 pts, 5 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl

Acinbai Apugi 12 pts, 10 reb, 2 stl, 1 blk

Leonardo Gilabi 11 pts, 8 reb

Arnold Kisekka 11 pts, 4 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl

The 2 teams meet for game 2 on Friday at YMCA while game 3 shall take place on Sunday at the same venue.