Nakivale edge Fort Portal in Game 5 to emerge Western Basketball League Champions

Nakivale Youth Basketball Academy edged Fort Portal Basketball Club 66-59 in the Finals Game 5 to win season 2 of the Western Basketball League.

October 6, 2025

2–3 minutes

Fort Portal Basketball Club, Nakivale Youth Basketball Academy, Western Basketball League

Nakivale Youth Basketball Academy (NYBA) made history after edging Fort Portal Basketball Club 76-69 in Game 5 to emerge season Two champions of the Western Basketball League.

Coming into this game, Fort Portal, who had trailed 2-0 after the first 2 games had tied the series 2-2.

Game 4 had been played earlier in the day, and it was decided in overtime with the hosts winning 76-69.

One would have said that the momentum was in Fort Portal’s favor and the fact that they were at home, the support was also in their favor.

However, the start of game 5 was not in their favor.

Nakivale led the game 22-17 after the first period and this early lead helped them down the stretch.

Jean Nkuzi scored 8 of the 22 points for Nakivale while point guard Ainebyona Rodney scored Fort Portal’s 10 including 2 3-point shots.

In the second quarter, Muhumuza Innocent was a presence in the pain and he managed to help Fort Portal both offense and defense.

He picked multiple rebounds and initiated offense. Additionally he scored huge 5 points but missed a couple of free throws.

At the halftime break, Nakivale still led thr game, 32-29.

The second half of this game was very competitive and game went down to the final 2 minutes.

Steven Okot was the biggest difference for Nakivale. He scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half and these came at very crucial times.

Daniel Zanzu was also very pivotal in Nakivale’s win. After an injury to their starting point guard Luc Mushengezi, Daniel had to step up.

Despite being taunted by fans calling him shot put because of his height, he was unfazed.

He was quick and crafty and managed to score a couple of floaters, finishing with 14 points.

Bakanda Isdor also was a force in the fourth quarter as he dropped 8 points including a clutch 3-pointer.

For Fort Portal, they tried to be aggressive but the energy was not quite there.

Captain Ibrahim came off the bench and provided some sort of spark.

He brought some energy to the team both on offense and defense a d he managed to drop 10 points.

The game was very close in the fourth quarter but Fort Portal made some big mistakes in the final seconds including an uncalled for unsportsmanlike foul which cost them 3 points.

They also took some rushed shots and some bad passes and that played in Nakivale’s favor.

Nakivale managed to see out the game winning 76-69 and becoming champions.