With 7 seconds to go, the UCU Canons trailed by 2 points and after a timeout, they were able to score a game winner sent the entire crowd into delirium.

Alier Pech was able to find Marvin Jesse Okurut who did not hesitate and scored a famous 3-point shot that ended the Namuwongo Blazers unbeaten run.

With about 4 seconds to go, the Blazers had a chance to pull off one of their own but Innocent Ochera was unable to get off a clean shot and the game ended 62-61.

Before we go any further, allow me point this out.

The ending of this game is what can happen once in a lifetime and one can’t quite explain how Namuwongo lost this game.

With about 1 minute left in the game, Michael Makiadi score a huge 3-point shot to give the Blazers a 3-point lead.

They managed to hold onto it and with about 15 seconds to go, they still had the lead plus possession.

At this point, all they had to do was eat as much time as possible on the clock but something unfortunate happened.

On the inbound, there was some sort of collision and Jimmy Enabu went down.

The referees did not call anything and for a moment, everyone was confused about what was happening.

Joel Kayiira then got the ball, dunked it to make it a 1 point game with 10 seconds to play.

The Blazers called another timeout and this time around, they chose not to advance the ball.

Makiadi was able to find the running Joel Lukoji who was fouled.

Joel made 1 of 2 free throws and this meant that UCU had a chance to win it with a 3-point shot.

The Canons drew up a play for Marvin and he came up with what will be a memorable basket.

This was his second game winner this season the first having come against the Victoria Crocs.

For all these things to happen, it was surely the stars aligning for the UCU Canons.

Key moments where Namuwongo lost the game

First and foremost, the defense on that dagger shot was lacking a bit. In these moments, coaches usually emphasize switching on everything. 

Marvin was able to get off a clean shot because Ivan Muhwezi was a split second late after having gone under the screen. Perhaps had there been a switch, Makiadi would have blocked or made Marvin take off a much more difficult shot.

Secondly, on the possession where Joel was fouled, the Blazers had option.

It is hard to know what their plan was but passing the ball to Joel wasn’t the best option.

Lukoji had already missed all his 3 free throws and he was the right person to foul and it paid off.

On that inbound, Tonny Drileba was had been open and that would have helped Namuwongo eat up as much on the game clock as possible.

Thirdly, Namuwongo should have done better in the second quarter.

UCU was in foul trouble barely 2 minutes in the quarter and one would have thought that the Blazers were going to attack the basket more and probably get to the line a bunch of times.

They went to the line 10 times and scored just 4 shots.

This helped the Canons very much and came back to bite the Blazers.

Another big thing were the misses of Joel Lukoji in the second quarter.

He missed back-to-back lay ups in transition and 3 free throws in that time and one could say his misses contributed greatly to the team’s loss.

After the first quarter, UCU led the game 16-13 but Namuwongo Blazers turned table around and took a 2-point lead into the halftime break.

Namuwongo struggled offensively in the second quarter, finding in difficult to put the ball in the basket.

UCU took a 7-point lead but at the end of the quarter, Tonny Drileba made a huge triple off the screen and Makiadi scored a jumper to make it a 2-point game.

The Canons tried to create some separation but Makiadi and Drileba once again made huge 3-point shots to keep Namuwongo in the game.

Eventually, the Blazers managed to get some stops and took the lead before being finished by Marvin Jesse.

In some of their recent games, the Blazers have allowed teams to stay within touching distance late in the game and at some point, a defeat was bound to happen.

Match Stats

UCU Canons

Lwabaga Ibanda 14 pts, 7 reb, 2 ast

Joel Kayiira 7 pts, 8 reb

Alier Pech 6 pts, 7 reb

Nam Blazers

Micheal Makiadi 14 pts, 5 reb

Tonny Drileba 12 pts, 6 reb

What does this victory mean?

For the Blazers, they had it coming and it was not a very big surprise that they lost, more so to a UCU side who came very close in the first round.

This win means that the Blazers are not invincible but it won’t matter much.

There will be a huge break between the end of the regular season and the playoffs.

A lot will happen in that time and the eventual champions may be the team that utilizes that period the most.

The Namuwongo Blazers have lost their first game of the season and have a 16-1 record.

They face the Kampala Rockets next on Sunday 29th at Lugogo.

The UCU Canons have been hot and cold but have an 11-7 record with a chance to finish top 4.

They take on the KIU Titans on Sunday 29th at Lugogo.