Victoria University go up 2:0 in Finals: Division One

Ayume scored 2 huge 3-point shots in clutch time to hand Victoria University a 62-59 victory against Rezlife Saints. V.U is up 2-0 in the finals

Avitus Ngabirano

January 25, 2025

2–3 minutes

FUBA Division 1, playoffs, Rezlife Saints, Victoria University

Victoria University is up 2:0 in the finals series after securing a hard-fought 62:59 victory against Rezlife Saints in game 2.

It was an alternating half as Victoria took the first quarter 20:15 but Rezlife responded in the second with 20:14 and at halftime, the Saints were up by 1 point.

The game was very close in the third quarter, with the biggest lead being 6 points, but as the quarter concluded, it was a 2-point game.

The tension continued in the fourth quarter, and in that time, the game was tied 4 times, and there were 5 lead changes.

Ronald Ayume scored 2 huge 3-point shots in the clutch and those were enough to seal the victory for Victoria.

Talking points

Production from the Rezlife Saints guards has been low in the 2 games so far.

Despite seeming to do work on the court, Gideon Kasasa hasn’t been very productive and his team needs him to up his levels.

Battle for Rebounds.

Victoria University (70) had 30 more rebounds than Rezlife Saints (40) and with such a difference, there is a very big effect.

Victoria had 28 offensive rebounds and scored 22 second chance points and in all honesty, it could have been more.

In the first half, Joseph Kumbai had 12 points and 18 rebounds but in the second, Rezlife decided to do work on him.

The box out was good and when Kumbai got the ball, they made it very difficult for him to score.

The defense from both teams was fairly good. The players were very active and getting a basket was hard.

Ayume and Cyrus made a couple of unnecessary mistakes on offense that helped the Rezlife Saints defense but in the end, Ayume won them the game.

The willingness to defend for both teams is one key thing that stands out in this game and with what we saw, it is very difficult to predict who will come out on top in thr next game.