The City Oilers are set to battle the Rezlife Saints in a highly anticipated best-of-five National Basketball League (NBL) semifinal series. This matchup serves as the ultimate litmus test for the third-seeded Saints, who are looking to derail the 10-time champion Oilers on their quest to reclaim the Ugandan basketball throne.

The City Oilers have made it to the finals for 11 consecutive seasons and they look to make it 12. However, the Rezlife Saints aim to end that run and make their debut in the NBL finals.

Road to the Semifinals

The City Oilers finished as the number 2 seed in the regular season boasting of a 20-2 record. They faced the KCCA Panthers swept them 2-0, winning Game One 58-50 and Game Two 77-61.

For Rezlife, they had an 18-4 record and faced Sommet in the quarterfinals. Despite winning the series 2-1, it was a very hectic series. Rezlife win by 1 point in game one courtesy of a free throw with less than a second to play. In game 2, Sommet thumped them by 17 points in their own backyard. However, they managed to win game 3 as they closed the game with a 13-0 run to secure their place in the semifinals for the very first time.

Head to Head (Regular Season)

Rezlife Saints is one of the 2 teams that defeated the City Oilers. In round one, Rezlife held City Oilers to just 2 points in the fourth quarter and secured a 62-48 victory over them. This was a statement win from the Saints because of how dominant (more so defensively) they were against the 10-time champions.

In round two, the Oilers got revenge as they delivered a 70-55 victory. In this game, the Saints’ offense never got firing and City Oilers took advantage.

All that won’t matter

Coming into this semifinals, all the past will be left behind. Both teams looked evenly matched and it is very hard to pick who will own the night. However, the City Oilers have a couple of players who joined in the playoffs and it will be interesting to see how they perform.

Oilers new Signings

In the 2025 season, City Oilers had 2 new players, Chad Bowie and Kurt Curry, who joined in the playoffs. Despite playing excellently, they never delivered the championship for the Oilers and some people suggest that it was due to exhaustion as they played a lot of minutes.

This time around, the Oilers have added Patrick Rembert and Germaine Roebuck. Rembert played in the 2 games against the KCCA Panthers and scored 15 and 12 points in games one and two respectively. We saw him play as the primary ball handler a lot and he showcased his ability to create.

For Roebuck, we are yet to see him in action. He is expected to make his debut in game one and we do not know what he will bring to the table.

The 2 players have played for the City oilers before at the BAL and the coaches are familiar with their strength. However, with these changes late in the season, they could either help the team or completely be a burst.

Players to watch

In the quarterfinals series, Edrine Ekau did not play great but his number were still incredible. He dropped 25 points in game 2, 17 in game 3 and 19 in game 1. If anything is to go by, he is the danger man for the Rezlife Saints. The City oilers have to find ways of slowing him down or completely cutting him off.

With the arrival of Roebuck, we do not know how the Oilers will set up but one thing we know for sure is that Fayed Baale will be on the floor. He has played off the ball a lot throughout the season and his marksmanship is like no other. The rezlife Saints have to be aware of him because he can cause significant damage.

The game will be tipping off at 9:00 pm at the Lugogo Indoor Arena on Friday 24thJuly. Whoever wins game one will gain a significant advantage in the series.