Oilers’ Forwards Laundry Ndikumana and James Okello balled out for a combined 50 points in Friday night NBL Finals game two; to help the Oilers tie the best of seven games series at 1-1. Laundry had the game high 27 point with 7 Rebs while Okello who spotted the Man-of-the-match performance had a double double of 23 points and 11 Rebs on a 10 of 16 shooting.
By halftime, Laundry had already collected 19 points as an answer to the seamless UCU offensive. Okello would take over the game in the second half to score 19 points having finished with 4 points at the half. In game one, the two forwards were limited to a combined 27 points with Okello scoring 17. Coach Nicholas Natuhereza after game one hinted that key to his team’s success was the ability to limit Laundry and Okello. In game one, they did this well by throwing double teams at them in the paint. It worked out well for the Canons because Laundry and Okello also insisted on making power plays on the low blocks something they adjusted in game two. Laundry stretched the floor in game two adopting shooting the long ball. He scored 12 points of his 27 from the three going 4 of 8.
“We challenged them (Laundry and Okello) to do better. In game one they gave us very little because they insisted on pounding on the blocks. Laundry shoots the three pretty well so we let him have a go at it.” – Coach Juruni.
UCU Canons are playing amazing basketball and they have their fans behind them. The atmosphere in the MTN Arena is electric but perhaps they could have closed the game better in game two. The Canons are playing with so much passion, they have a great synergy; whoever comes on has something to offer. The Canons in game two had 55 points from the starters with Titus Lual and David Kongor each scoring 15 points. Isaiah Ater had 14 points and Chuma Fadhili had a low scoring night. He fouled out of the game with 4 points. Jerry Kayanga continues to bring good energy off the bench; the rookie scored 12 points all from three range in a 4 of 8 shooting at one point going 3 for 3 in the fourth quarter to give Canons a 10 point advantage.
Despite the short-handedness, Oilers Coach Juruni kept his rotation thin. He wasn’t as adventurous as he was in game one. His starters combined for 69 points. Only Jimmy Enabu added 10 points off the bench in 23 minutes. Already a 9-man team, Juruni put Ivan Muhwezi, Jukko Daniel and Omongin Abel on minute restriction making sure he made the most of his starters Ben Koma(8 points), Tony Drileba(8 points), Josh Johnson (3 points), Okello and Laundry. With the exception of Josh Johnson who was on the floor for 26 minutes, the rest of the starters played longer than 32 minutes each.
Canons bled a lot in the paint especially in the second half when they allowed Okello James get 19 points but Oilers showed a lot of character grinding from a 9 point deficit with 6 minutes to play in Q4.
“I think the guys showed a lot of character tonight and I believe we played very good defense.” – Coach Juruni.
Game three will be played on Sunday at the MTN Arena; then the NBL Finals for Men will take a break till January to allow City Oilers prepare for the Basketball Africa League Qualifiers that start Dec 17 -22 in Kigali, Rwanda.
“This series will be much about Laundry Ndikumana and Okello James as much as it will be about Chuma Fadhili and Titus Lual.” – C.Brian
brian@basketball256.net | Twitter: @Cucubrian
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