The City Oilers defeated the Rezlife Saints 72-66 in Game Two of their semifinal playoff series to take a commanding 2-0 lead. Played on Sunday, July 26, 2026, at the Lugogo Indoor Arena, the 10-time champions had to dig deep in order to see out the game and in clutch time, they delivered. The victory puts the Oilers just one win away from securing their spot in yet another NBL finals appearance.

Coming into the game, the City Oilers had won game one 64-54 and Rezlife needed to pull one back. In order to do this, they had to play better and unlock their star player Edrine Ekau and that is exactly what happened.

In the first quarter, we saw Ekau take a number of shots and he missed the first 3 but it was a matter of time before something dropped. Nonetheless, the Saints managed to put up 13 points in the quarter and they trailed 13-17. The Oilers scored 3 3-point shots including back to back triples by Fayed Baale.

In the second quarter, the tension in the game surged. Edrine Ekau made a couple of ridiculous shots and scored 11 points in quarter. The Saints had started the quarter with a 6-0 run but shortly after, both teams started trading baskets. Every time Rezlife scored, the Oilers hit right back and vice versa.

The tension grew more and more and at some point, the referee gave the Rezlife Saints bench a technical foul. What was funny is that some of the Rezlife bench and the fans, led by Pastor Kyambadde expressed their frustrations after a no call was made for what they thought was a foul on Edrine Ekau as he shot the three right in front of their bench.

The game was halted and a couple of discussions were had between the referees, officials and the security. Nonetheless, the game continued and at the halftime break, the Oilers led 36-33.

Hon Kwany was on fire in the third quarter. He scored 10 points inside the first 5 minutes and was full of confidence as he drained 2 triples. Rezlife also made a 7-0 run to take a 6-point lead and the excitement from the crowd was abundant.

The Oilers were unfazed though. Every time Rezlife seemed to pull away, the Oilers had an answer and once again, they cut the momentum and scored crucial baskets late in the quarter. Rezlife took the lead, 52-51, as the third quarter winded down.

The first 5 minutes of the fourth quarter were insane. City Oilers went up by 4 points but then Ekau happened. He scored on 4 straight possessions for the saints but Germaine Roebuck and Joel Lukoji also got baskets for Oilers and with 5 minutes to play, the Oilers led by 1 point.

In the remainder of the game, Rezlife scored just 1 shot, made 4 turnovers while City oilers scored 8 points to seal a 72-66 victory.

Key Performers

The top performer of the game was Edrine Ekau as he dropped 27 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Micheal Otieno had 15 points while Hon Kwany finished with 13 points.

Landry Ndikumana dropped a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Jonathan Komagum rose up to the occasion on the defensive end as he picked 11 rebounds, scored 8 points and had a staggering +/- 20. Patrick Rembert and Germaine Roebuck scored 14 and 10 points respectively.

On the Brink of the NBL Finals

By extending their semifinal series lead to 2-0, the City Oilers have placed immense pressure on the playoff debutants. Rezlife heads into an elimination game 3 on Friday 31st July at Lugogo.

In the other series, the Namuwongo Blazers are care of business in games one and two against the UCU Canons. With this, a repeat of the highly-anticipated last season’s blockbuster NBL finals remains firmly on track.