Rezlife Saints turned up the heat in the fourth quarter of game 3 to defeat Victoria University 79-57 and secure their first win in the series.

In the fourth quarter, the Rezlife Saints were so hot that Victoria University experienced a meltdown and didn’t know how to proceed.

Ahead of the fourth quarter, Rezlife led the game 52:45 but what proceeded after was a great offensive and defensive display from them.

The Saints made a 15-0 run in the first 3:25 minutes to make it a 22-point game.

In that same time, they scored 6/10 Field Goals while defensively, they paralyzed Victoria, who had 3 turnovers and just 4 field goal attempts, 3 of which were from behind the arc.

Rezlife made their defense impenetrable and Victoria could not find a way through. If this was temple run, it’s safe to say Victoria got lost in the ‘dark forest’.

Matter of fact, Victoria did not have a single rebound in the first 5 minutes of the fourth quarter. 

Rezlife Saints started the game well offensively and they scored 4/7 from the 3-point line plus 7/10 from the free-throw line.

This helped them to lead the game 23-14 after the first quarter but the situation turned around in the second.

The offensive efficiency of Rezlife tailed off slightly in the third quarter and Victoria had their moments.

Cyrus Wobusobozi capitalized from the line with 7/7 and finished with 10 second-quarter points, while Ayume hit some big 3-point shots and finished with 8 points in the quarter.

The second half, particularly the fourth quarter was just Rezlife Saints all the way.

However, late in the third quarter, the  Rezlife Saints big man Apugi was left open, and he made back-to-back 3-point shots, which had a huge effect on the game.

Talking points and Coaches’ reactions

The fourth quarter is where the game went out of proportion, and the coaches from both sides had their views on what transpired.

Rezlife shot 10/19 FG plus 17 rebounds while Victoria had 5/17 FG and just 6 rebounds in the fourth quarter.

“It is a Sunday, all the shots were landing. Though our offense wasn’t great like I wanted it to be, everything was working for us well” Rezlife Saints coach Michael Othieno reacted.

Victoria University coach Rogers Serunyigo shares similar sentiments on the matter;

“It was a good day for Rezlife, they took lots of lucky shots and they fell” he said.

He also added about what happened during the game for his boys;

“The Victoria University boys switched off and things went berserk. They have not had a loss in a long time so it’s difficult to hang in there when you’ve been winning all the time”

“Some of them (V.U) focused on the referees and it got to their game and they couldn’t play anymore”

Rebounds

Rezlife had 61 rebounds to 37 for Victoria.

In game 2, Victoria (70) had 30 more than Rezlife (40), but it was the other way around, and the strategy for the Saints worked 100%.

Their biggest problem in games 1 and 2 was Kumbai who averaged 20+ rebounds in the 2 games but he finished with just 6 in this game.

Coach Michael Othieno shared his thoughts on the subject;

“We managed to stop Kumbai. We tried to push him away from the paint”

Coach Rogers called out his big men on their inability to fill the void that Kumbai left.

“It is the dependency [on Kumbai]. Kumbai got 2 fouls in the first quarter and another 2 by the third quarter. Definitely, it leaves a gap. Most of the rebounds have been picked by Kumbai and our bigs have to step up and fill that void”

Both coaches agree that rebounding is the key and both look to adjust and try to win this duel.

“We have to the crush the boards and get a defensive stop on particularly Kisekka and a couple of other guys that are enjoying to shoot the ball” Coach Rogers on adjustments going into game 4.

“We have to box out these guys. In the previous games, they have been beating us by rebounds” Coach Michael on the strategy in game 4.

Being down 3-0 would have been a deep hole to crawl out of but Rezlife managed to pull one back and in very good fashion.

Their mentality was very key and it helped them crossover the finish line in game 3

“The whole season we’ve been talking about winning the championship and we had to start today because we couldn’t let them go 3-0 in the series”

Arnold Kisekka has been fired up offensively in the series, and the coach says he encouraged him to attempt more.

“I talked to him and i told him how important it is for him to shoot more and he did that and the good thing is, the shots were dropping”

In the absence of Michael on the floor, Gideon Kasasa has been the main guard but Caleb Katumba and Ssekibenga have progressively got increased minutes and more time on the ball.

Several times, it has been noted that Gideon has played off the ball and the coach had his thoughts on that.

“We want him (Gideon) on the ball but then we want to ball to move more on offense. I’ve been telling him, if he doesn’t have the drive or the shot, move the ball”

Rezlife Saints

Arnold Kisekka 24 pts, 3 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl

Leonardo Gilabi 12 pts, 12 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk

Gideon Kasasa 15 pts, 9 ast, 7 reb

Acinbai Apugi 9 pts, 2/2 3P, 10 reb, 2 ast

Victoria University

Cyrus Wobusobozi 15 pts, 2 reb, 6 ast, 2 stl

Ronald Ayume 12 pts, 3 ast, 3 stl

Joseph Kumbai 11 pts, 6 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl

Facts

Joseph Kumbai made less than 10 rebounds and this is the first time he hasn’t hit double digits in the playoffs.

Game 4 shall be taking place on Wednesday 29th at YMCA and this game could determine who wins the series eventually.