The UCU Canons secured a thrilling 61-60 victory over the Victoria Crocs in a decisive Game 3 to advance to the National Basketball League (NBL) playoff semifinals.

The high-stakes, winner-takes-all clash took place on the evening of Friday 17th July at the YMCA Court in Wandegeya, capping off an intense best-of-three quarterfinal series.

This was perhaps the best game of the quarter-finals thus far and it would have been decided in overtime but Mark Ngobi missed a crucial free throw with 1 second left.

Before the missed free throw and the final 2 minutes, some people thought that Victoria had won tje game and it was matter of time. However, the Canons produced a clutch performance, similar to what we saw against the Namuwongo Blazers in the second round of the 2025 regular season.

With about 2 minutes left in the game, the Victoria Crocs by 8 points and Mark Ngobi had a chance to deliver the dagger but he missed an easy layup.

On the other end, Flore Dushime split the defense to finish at the rim and make it a 6-point game.

After a timeout, Victoria scored through Cedric Alema and at this point you felt that their lesd was secure. However, the Canons still had a fight in them and Lwabaga Ibanda responded with an easy basket a couple of seconds later.

What happened next is what turned the Canons’ fortunes. Enoch Lubangekene made a turnover on the inbound and Daniel Muganzi fired a three to make it a 3-point game with less than 90 seconds left.UCU had been handed a lifeline and they made the most of it.

Moments later, Muganzi made an and one to make it a 1-point game and leveled the game from.the free throw line.

Shortly after, Victoria missed and Marvin Jesse Okurut gave the Canons the lead on the other e d with an easy layup. The Crocs defense was beaten to easily once again.

UCU had a chance to put the game out of reach but they made an out of bounds turnover and the Crocs had to make the most out of this opportunity.

Mark Ngobi was fouled as he we up for a shot with 1 second left. All he had to do was make the 2 free throws and send the game into overtime.

He made the first but hit the back of the rim on the second attempt and that sealed the UCU Canons’ victory. 

In the first quarter, Coach Roger Sserunyigo’s Victoria Crocs played at a high tempo which alot of energy, and won the quarter 21-15. UCU made a couple of turnovers for which they were punished.

In the second quarter the UCU Canons quickly regrouped and took over the game. They cleaned up their ball handling and established a stronger rhythm, outscoring the Crocs to take a narrow 35-31 advantage into the halftime break. UCU limited Victoria to just 4 points in the first 5 minutes of the quarter while they scored 16 and this put them in a comfortable position momentum wise.

The Crocs took over the third quarter and their early 9-0 run in the third helped give them the lead. However, after controlling the game for the most part, they crumbled in the final 2 minutes and that it when it mattered the most.

Player Stats

Depsite missing a crucial free throw, Mark Ngobi was perhaps the best player on the floor and missed out on a triple double. He registered 17 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals.

Chuol Nyuot had early foul trouble but when he was on the floor, he was a menace. He had 15 rebounds, 9 points, 3 steals and 3 blocks.

Flore Dushime once again had a wonderful performance and he led the Canons in scoring with 17 points plus 7 rebounds.

Zachariah Ekirapa registered a double double with 14 points and 10 rebounds while Daniel Muganzi (10) and Lwabaga Ibanda (11) all scored double digits.

Semi-finals berth

With this hard-fought quarterfinal series put to bed, the UCU Canons officially advance to face the formidable Namuwongo Blazers in the NBL playoff semifinals. This will be the second year in a row that they meet in the semi-finals with the 2025 results having been a 3-0 sweep. Do the Canons have enough to get revenge and upset the Namuwongo Blazers?