The Namuwongo Blazers secured their place in the 2026 National Basketball League (NBL) semifinals after completing a convincing 2-0 quarterfinal series sweep over the JT Jaguars.

After taking control of the series with a composed 77-60 victory in Game One, the Blazers returned to finish the job in Game Two, producing another disciplined performance to eliminate the Jaguars and keep their aspirations of defending the championship firmly on track.

Coming into the series, the Blazers’ had been the number one offensive and defensive team and seeing the Jaguars’, who have been largely poor this season, get even a victory was more of a dream than possibility.

This was seen more so in game one where the Jaguars fought valiantly but still lost the game by 17 points. Game 2 was not expected to be any different and given that the Blazers’ were at home; their advantage was increased further.

After the first couple of minutes in game one, the JT Jaguars led the game 11-2 and some people thought that maybe they could have a chance. In that period, the blazers made 3 turnovers and missed a couple of scoring opportunities. However, that was not going to continue all game long although the Jaguars led the game 19-15 after the first quarter.

The situation changed in the second when Namuwongo turned up the heat on defense. They limited the Jaguars to just 8 points while scoring 18, in order to take a 6-point lead at the halftime break.

The third quarter was a little different as both teams kept pushing to gain the advantage. However, the Blazers had an edge and their 3-point shooting was a key factor to that. They scored 4 triples in the third quarter alone which was more than what they had scored in the entire first half (2).

Coming into the final quarter, Namuwongo led 53-44 and the Jaguars had to fight very hard in order to turn the game around although that was always going to be a difficult task. They kept within striking distance but never put together a significant run and the Blazers secured a 73-62 win to book their place in the semi-finals.

Player Stats (Game 2)

Franck Nyembo 16 pts, 7 reb

Innocent Ochera 13 pts

James Okello 14 pts, 9 reb

Peter Sifuma 13 pts, 11 reb

Elijah Adakun 12 pts

Semifinal Showdown

With the sweep officially wrapped up, the Namuwongo Blazers will face either the UCU Canons or the Victoria Crocs in the NBL semifinals. Those two teams are currently locked in a tense 1-1 series tie.

With arch-rivals City Oilers also sweeping the KCCA Panthers, the stage is slowly being set for another potential blockbuster collision in the NBL Finals.