Makerere Sparks made it back-to-back victories after defeating Kibuli S.S 62-52 on Saturday 31st at KIU Kansanga.

In the 2024 season, Kibuli defeated Makerere in the first round but the University side got the better of them in the second.

This time around, the Sparks wanted to show that they are the better side, but it was always going to be a tough game.

The game, which was scheduled to tip off at 9 am delayed due to a number of reasons and during this time, Makerere kept warming up.

Unfortunately, Kibuli had a bit of jersey mix up and by the time it was rectified, their players hadn’t gotten enough warm up time.

To make matters worse, some players never had the right jerseys and the team was reduced to just 7 players.

In the first minutes of the game, it was though Makerere was the one which had not warmed up well.

They trailed 11-2 after the first 3:30 minutes.

In that time, Kibuli had registered 7 offensive rebounds and scored 6 second chance points.

In the meantime, Makerere had just  2 rebounds compared to 12 for Kibuli.

However, after a timeout, the Sparks settled and made an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 1 point.

In the second quarter, Makerere looked the better side and they made an 11-3 run to take a 3-point lead halfway through the quarter.

As the half winded down, the Sparks led the game 25-23 and were  the team with the momentum.

Makerere scored a lot of points in transition in the third quarter but despite that, Kibuli was close.

The Sparks outscored Kibuli 19-15 to make it a 6-point game but the game was still open.

Kibuli scored just 2 points in the first 6 minutes of the fourth quarter while Makerere scored 14 to establish a 16-point game.

At this point, the game was on salvageable and Makerere Sparks went on to win 62-52.

Youngster Shiphrah Kiranda registered a huge double-double, 21 points, 26 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals.

However, she did not have help and was the only Kibuli player to score 10+ points.

Kibuli also made a lot of turnovers (30) although Makerere also missed a lot of layups after forcing the turnovers.

Sparks’ Mercy Ageno continued to show her brilliance as she registered another double-double, 15 points and 19 rebounds.

The standout player in this game was Jovia Nalwoga who impressed with her first double-double.

She registered 13 points and 12 rebounds but for a person who just started playing the sport, her defense reads were excellent.

Match Stats

Makerere Sparks

Afua Nabawanga 20 pts, 4 reb, 4 ast, 5 stl

Mercy Ageno 15 pts, 19 reb, 5 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk

Jovia Nalwoga 13 pts, 12 reb, 4 stl

Kibuli S.S

Shiphrah Kiranda 21 pts, 26 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl

Husna Namagembe Abubaker 8 pts, 11 reb, 4 ast

Kibuli have 1-3 record so far and they face Buddo Mystiques next on Sunday 1st June at Hamz Stadium.

Makerere Sparks now have a winning record, 4-3, and they return to action on Sunday 1st June against Kampala University at KIU.