The UCU Canons and the Victoria Crocs will be facing off in the quarter-finals of the 2026 NBL Season and this could be the most interesting fixture.

Why that could be the case is the fact that the 2 sides finished with the same record, faced off in the finals of the AUUS Games in December 2025 and it is a university derby.

The Canons are a perennial side in the playoffs whereas the Crocs will be making their playoffs debut having missed out in 2025 due to head to head despite being having g the same record as the number 6 seed.

Who wants this more?

After missing out on the playoffs in the 2025 season, the Victoria Crocs made a couple of signings and were confident in their chances of making it far this season.

I remember in one of the conversations withe Head Coach, Roger Serunyigo, before the season started, he revealed that trusted in him team’s abilities and that he was confident in them.

Fast forward to the season, the Crocs do well and on the final day, they had a chance to determine who they wanted to face in the quarter-finals.

A win against the UPDF Tomahawks would put them in fifth place and set up a clash against the UCU Canons. A defeat would leave them in sixth place and that meant they would have to face the Rezlife Saints.

Victoria came out strong against the UPDF Tomahawks and secured the victory, ultimately setting up a clash against UCU in the quarters-finals. What this meant was that they trusted themselves more to get a win against the Canons than the Saints.

So coming into this series, the Victoria Crocs have all the confidence in the world that they can be able to defeat UCU. A victory here would also mean alot for their basketball program.

For the UCU Canons, they have been regulars in the semi-finals and it would look awkward if they weren’t there. At this point, the Canons making the semi-finals has become a part of them.

In the last couple of seasons, UCU has finished as the number 3 team, after the playoffs. I don’t think they would want that to stop now and that is exactly why they will make sure to leave everything on the floor.

Season Head to Head

During the 2026 regular season, the UCU Canons defeated the Victoriaa Crocs 70-62 and 82-62 in the first and second rounds respectively.

When the 2 teams faced off in the first round, UCU led by as many as 17 points but with less than a minute to play, the Crocs had cut the deficit to 4 points.

In the second round, UCU blew the Crocs away in the second quarte, 32-15, to establish a significant lead which they maintained till the end of the game.

Is Mark Ngobi the answer?

Ngobi has been one of the best players in the NBL this season and one of the team’s that has tasted his wrath is the UCU Canons.

Mark scored a whopping 55 points against the Canons in the 2 games during the regular season. He dropped 33 on them in their own backyard in the first round and added 22 in the second.

What we saw in both of those games is the ability for his team ro create for him and also to trust him. When he lit up in the first round, he was unstoppable. It was as though every shot he made would go in. Whenever he made a drive, he would either get it to drop, even from tight angles, or get a foul.

Having a player like that, who can be difference, is very important. The Crocs know that they have a danger man and it will be a matter of, how much can they utilize him?

On the other hand for the UCU Canons, this will be the man to stop. If they can keep him at bay, they will have solved half of the problems that the Crocs would have caused.

Battle in the paint

The front court battle is going to be very interesting. UCU’s front court has been a major weakness since the season started.

The Canons have had multiple pairings of bigs although Lihumi Jimmy and Alier Pech played the most together. These 2 however averaged just 4.1 and 8.4 points. They added 8.4 and 7.7 rebounds per game.

When you look at that production, it is low and more will have to be asked of them. For contrast, Victoria Crocs’ Chuol Nyuot averaged 12.7 points which is more than Alier and Lihumi’s combined.

Chuol has improved his game significantly, scoring more put backs, being more efficient and a lob threat and also collecting rebounds at a high degree. His fierceness and ferocity have also increased this year.

He is another player that will cause the Canons a lot of problems in the paint. It is important to remember that the last time he faced the Canons, he delivered a 17 points, 14 rebounds double-double.

The battle in the paint will be interesting. Can the Canons stop Chuol on defense? How much production can the UCU bigs make on offense?

This game will be very interesting and there are very many things to look out for. Game one tip-offs off at on Friday 10th July at 9:00 pm and the YMCA.