Just when you thought that the City Oilers had become better and woken up from their slump, the Kampala Rockets reminded us of how poor they are after snatching a victory from them in the final seconds of the game.

The Oilers led the game by one with 24 seconds to play and they had the possession.

Unfortunately for them, Joseph Chuma, who had struggled to find his rhythm offensively, made a travel violation, and the Rockets got the possession.

In most cases, coaches usually call a timeout but this time around, Coach Najja Daniel opted not to, and it paid off.

The Rockets found Puati Ozias on the low post who took his time and was able to put up a very tough basket and draw a foul from Rogers Dauna in the process.

He missed his free throw but Brian Opio came up with the most important rebound of the game which gave them the possession.

After drawing the foul, he managed to sink both free throws and hand the Kampala Rockets a hard-fought 53-50 victory against the 10-time champions.

One thing that is very peculiar is that the two teams have been in this kind of situation in their recent games.

On Wednesday 7th when the Rockets defeated the KCCA Panthers, they were down by a point with 30 seconds to play, but after a Panthers turnover, Puati Ozias once again came to their rescue, burying 2 free throws to give them the lead.

They also got another opportunity on the free-throw line and once again secured a huge offensive rebound.

For the City Oilers, three of their last five games have come down to the final possession.

When they lost the JKL Dolphins, the Dolphins scored a huge 3-point shot on their final possession to tie the game and send it to overtime.

In the next game, Victoria Crocs was in the same position as Cedric Alema, who had a wide-open 3-point shot that could have tied the game and sent it to overtime but he missed.

Fast forward to this game: Oilers make a turnover and on virtually the last possession, the Rockets score and win the game.

You can see that both teams have had a couple of close games but it’s very surprising that they even find themselves in these positions.

That is a testament to how poor they have been this season and honestly, they look very ‘regular’.

Ahead of this game, the Oilers had won 3 in a row and had gathered a bit of steam.

On the other hand, Kampala Rockets had also won 3 in a row, including a 10-point comeback in their previous game against the KCCA Panthers.

They also started strong in this game and led 14-12 after the first quarter.

It was a disastrous performance from the Oilers in the second quarter as they had just 8 points to their name and Kampala Rockets scored 16 to take a 10-point lead into the halftime break.

The Oilers applied some pressure on defense and the Kampala Rockets caved in the third quarter.

They made 9 turnovers in the quarter with 5 on their first 6 possessions and City Oilers punished them heavily.

The 10-time champions scored 15 points from turnovers and did not convert on just 2 occasions when the Rockets turned over.

Luckily for the Rockets, they trailed by just one point as the fourth quarter approached and they still had enough time to correct.

It was a low-scoring fourth quarter and the Oilers led by as many as 5 points but the Rockets’ big men were at work.

They scored 11 of their 13 points including that final field goal by Puati Ozias with less than 10 seconds left in the game.

Match Stats

Kampala Rockets

Puati Ozias Kikomba 12 pts, 16 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 3 blk

Mpiya Juf 16 pts, 13 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 3 blk

Brian Opio 11 pts, 3 reb, 4 ast

City Oilers

Edgar Munaba 16 pts, 10 reb, 3 stl

Rogers Dauna 8 pts, 7 reb

Malual Dier 9 pts, 9 reb, 2 ast, 5 stl

The Kampala Rockets have now won 4 in a row to close the first round.

They have a 7-4 record, and a top 4 after the first round is very possible.

City Oilers’ got their winning streak cut short and they now have a 5-5 record.

They face the UCU Canons in their final regular season game on Friday 16th with a chance to finish the first round with a winning record.