A couple of years ago while Tonny Drileba was still with the City Oilers, he made a very famous quote. It goes;

“First beat us in a seven game series, then we can talk.”

To a layman, that sounds(end) arrogant but if you critically analyze it, the man was right.

He was confident and believed in his craft and his team’s ability to win the championship, which they did.

Todate, he still carries the same confidence.

He may not have said those words while in a Nam Blazers jersey but he is playing like so.

Having missed the first 2 games, he has been the key player for the Nam Blazers in game 3 and 4 and one could argue that he is the sole reason the series is now tied.

His coach, Stephen Nyeko described him as the “missing piece”.

After his 9 assists and leadership on the floor in game 3, many were asking themselves, how much more impact can he have in the next game?

He answered that with a team-high 15 points, 3 3-point shots made and once again, composure and leadership on the floor.

The other important thing to note is the fact that most of those points came in very crucial times.

With about 2:30 left in the game, there is a layup he made right on the buzzer to give the Blazers a 7-point lead.

More than half of the Arena was counting down for him but he didn’t show any panic.

He played iso and with about 3 seconds to go, he made the drive to the basket and finished it off with ease.

A few seconds later, he buried a triple to make it an 8-point game with less than 2 minutes to go.

Ivan Muhwezi also came up huge in this game.

After underperorming in game 3, he was one of those that needed to have a huge impact.

He finished with 11points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Most importantly, he made timely shots.

In the third quarter, he carried the Blazers offensively in some stretches with big baskets.

Ivan scored 8 points, 2 triples in the final 3 minutes of the quarter.

Some important things to note in this game were, the City Oilers players (Kurt and Big Mo) reacting (in a taunting way) to the Nam Blazers fans.

Also some of the Oilers management were having some words with the referees.

Those are recipes for failure and those 2 things happening in the same game were indicative of how ‘cooked’ the Oilers were.

There was a lot of intensity coming into this game and both teams knews that a lot was at stake.

The Oilers led the game 18-14 after the first period with Chad Bowie scoring 10 points.

In the second, both teams missed a lot and there was a combined 18 points scored.

At the halftime break, the City Oilers led 26-24.

In the fourth, Nam Blazers made a 12-2 run to take a 6-point lead.

By the end of the quarter, the Blazers led 47-42 and were in the driving seat.

The Blazers made big play after big play in the fourth.

They kept utilizing the shot clock and get off the shot with about 3 or 4 seconds to go.

Tonny Drileba scored 2 huge 3-point shots that put them in a comfortable position.

The stroke that broke the Camels back was the unsportsmanlike foul that was called on Kurt Curry.

Anthony Chukwubuka made both free throws and scored on that next possession to make it a 12-point lead with under 90 seconds to play.

This was a difficult position for Oilers to come back from and the Blazers went on to win 71-64.

Player Stats

Nam Blazers

Tonny Drileba 15 pts, 6 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl

Ivan Muhwezi 11 pts, 8 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl

Joel Lukoji 10 pts, 4 ast

Anthony Chukwubuka 9 pts, 7 reb, 3 ast, 4 stl

City Oilers

Chad Bowie 21 pts, 6 reb, 4 ast, 6 stl

Kurt Curry 20 pts, 8 reb, 2 ast

Mer Maker 8 pts, 10 reb

Reactions

Nam Blazers Head Coach on the impact of Tonny Drileba.

“He is very impactful to the team and that’s the piece we have been missing. He is not well but that’s the sacrifice that he has made for the team, to come and ball out.”

He also commented on the level of physicality in the game.

“They were also physical. If we have laid back, we would miss out. So we also got physical so that the game would be balanced.”

Star of the game, Tonny Drileba also shared his thoughts on what helped them win the game.

“The one thing that will not be reflected on the score sheet is the effort and energy from the team as a whole. This was a team win.”

On the physicality and mentality for the game, he said;

“I’m a firm believer in doing whatever it takes to win. I don’t care if I have no points as long as I come out and compete, make stops and try to defend the best players on the other team. If it means putting your body on the line, then I will do it.”

“In the first 2 games, they shot the lights out because we were allowing them to get open looks in transition. We said, don’t let them get anything open against a set defense. Even if you’re late, just put a hand up, jump or do something. That contest could alter the shot.”

Kurt Curry and Chad Bowie scored 20 and 21 points respectively. They combined for 41 of the team’s 64 points. Drileba hinted on their goal to stop them.

“The goal is to try and limit these guys because 20 and 21 is still ridiculous high.  We want to cut down their numbers even more. That was the assignment for tonight and we failed at that. Hopefully we’ll do better in thr next game.”

The Namuwongo Blazers have tied the series 2-2 and now have the momentum.

Game 5 will be on Sunday 2nd at Lugogo.