The Namuwongo Blazers registered an 80-70 victory over the City Oilers in a crucial game 3 to make the finals series 2-1.

Ahead of this game, the Nam Blazers trailed 2-0 in the series and they aimed to avoid going down 3-0. They had to win this game but a lot needed to be adjusted.

Their biggest boost was the return of Tonny Drileba. At the end of the game, most people were in awe of him, not because he scored a lot, but because of the things he did that aren’t reflected on the stat sheet.

He meticulously controlled the game and embodied the true definition of “floor general”.

Drileba registered 9 assists and it could have been more. His movement and decisions helped the Nam Blazers move the ball better and generate high quality shots.

To put this into perspective, the Blazers registered 26 assists whereas in the first 2 games, they combined for 30. That says a lot.

He also executed the pick and roll (more so with Anthony) very well and this caused night mares for the Oilers.

Coming into this game, the Nam Blazers had their work cut out. They knew that if they can stop Chad Bowie (who scored 19 points in the first half of game one) and Kurt Curry (who scored 18 points in the first quarter of game 2), perhaps they would have a chance.

It was very clear what the Blazers wanted to do. Take the ball to the paint on offense while try to push the Oilers away from the paint and force them into shots on defense.

Namuwongo attempted 19 field goals in the first quarter and managed to score 9 of them. However, 10 of their 19 attempts were in the paint and they sunk 7 of those.

On the other hand, the Oilers had 22 field goal attempts but only 8 of those came from inside the paint. This strategy by the Blazers was working but the Oilers were shooting well and at the end of the quarter, the game was tied, 24-24.

Actually, the biggest play of the Oilers happened at the end of this quarter. As the clock was winding down, Chad Bowie maneuvered through the Blazers defense, managed to offload to Mer maker who finished through contact at the buzzer.

The second quarter was not as pretty as the first from both teams but some players managed to step up.

Arthur Wanyoto scored valuable jump shots while Moses Mugisha also came off the bench and had an impact offensively and defensively.

The Oilers scored 2 triples including one from big Mo who was oozing with confidence as he buried the shot from the top.

City Oilers went into the halftime break leading 44-42 and it was clearly going to be an emphatic second half.

Namuwongo showed how much they needed this game in the third quarter.

They fought for the second chances and were rewarded heavily.

The Blazers scored 19 points in the third quarter but 12 of those were second chance points. Of the 7 offensive rebounds they picked, they managed to score on 5 of those possessions.

This was the biggest difference and what separated the 2 teams. Defensively, they forced Oilers from getting to their paint.

City oilers attempted just 6 shots in the paint in the third quarter and they managed to score 2 of them.

Every other time they tried to go to the rim, there was a foul. They had to earn their points.

At the end of the third, Nam Blazers led the game 61-58 and they looked in control. It was their game to lose.

In the fourth, Namuwongo made a 9-0 run to make it a 10-point game with less than 5 minutes to go.

There wasn’t much that the Oilers could do at that point in time as Drileba was controlling and managing the game well.

Every time the Oilers scored something, the Blazers responded instantly.

Arthur wanyoto and Anthony Chukwurah made big play after big play. They were patient as the guards did their thing and when the pass came, they made sure to finish.

Namuwongo scored 7 of their 10 2-point attempts. That level of efficiency helped carry them over the line.

Player Stats

Nam Blazers

Peter Obleng 20 pts, 9 reb. 1 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk

Anthony Chukwurah Chukwubuka 14 pts, 8 reb, 4 ast

Arthur Wanyoto 18 pts, 8 reb

Tonny Drileba 9 ast

City Oilers

Mer Maker 20 pts, 8 reb

Kurt Curry Wegscheider 18 pts, 8 reb, 2 ast

Chad Bowie Jordan 17 pts, 7 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl

Fayed Baale 12 pts, 4 stl

Fact

For the first time in this series, the City Oilers scored (6) less than 10 3-point shots in a game. Contrary to that, the Nam Blazers scored (6) more than 5 3-point shots in a game.

Tonny Drileba Reaction

“We were a lot more patient on offense, playing together, sharing the ball and that got them to play honest defense. In the first 2 games, they got us a lot in transition because our offense was a bit rushed. We made bad decisions and weren’t in the right positions to get back and defend” Tonny commented on the difference in this game.

“We did not have bodies behind the ball. In game 2, he (Kurt Curry) had a field day getting to the rim with 10/20 FG and that is very efficient. In this game we put bodies behind the ball and were aware of where the biggest threats were” on limiting Kurt Curry and Chad Bowie points.

For the first time in the series, City Oilers scored less than 10 3-point shots. Drileba highlighted on the defensive adjustment they made.

“In the first 2 games, we let them take a lot of uncontested threes. Tonight the plan was to be there. It’s difficult to stop a three but just contest it. They had a couple of open looks but because we had competed from the start, they struggled to get in rhythm.”

Finally, on the mentality heading into game 4, he said;

“It is the biggest game of the season for us. The mentality is to carry what we did tonight and make it better going into the next game. We also want to do whatever possible in order to get the win.”

The City Oilers lead the series 2-1 and game 4 shall be on Friday 31^st at Lugogo.