Wednesday, May 15
City Oilers 66-67 JKL Dolphins
(13-21, 13-16, 16-17, 24-13)

MUK Sparks 57-66 YMCA Lady Hamsters

JKL Dolphins beat six time defending champions City Oilers in a National Basketball League game played at YMCA court in Wandegeya, Kampala.

The Dolphins broke to a 9-0 lead and could go on to open a 16 point lead midway through the game but had to survive Oilers late surge before sealing a deserved and hard fought 67-66 win.

Playing his first game for JKL, Brian Muramba who played for Oilers last season filled the stat sheet with a game high 15 points, nine rebounds and three assists.

The Kenyan shot 6 for 11 from the field before fouling out down the stretch in an intense affair against his former pay masters.

Josh Johnson and Landry Ndikumana had 11 points each but their efforts proved not enough to stop JKL who pick their first win against Oilers since joining top flight.

JKL has now won four games from six attempts in the ongoing campaign while the loss was the third in a row for a short handed City Oilers who had no Stephen Omony, Ben Komakech and Jonathan Egau.

City Oilers had previously lost to UCU Canons and Warriors, after beating Betway Power, Falcons, KIU Titans and Kampala University.

What Next for Both Sides?

City Oilers will seek to bounce back when they play Sharing Youth on May 18 before Ndejje on May 24. Our Saviour and KCCA are still on the menu before they seal what has been a mixed round one.

JKL on the other hand, will take a long rest before playing back to back games against Falcons and UCU Canons on May 25 and May 26 respectively. They face Sharing and Warriors in the first three days of June.

JKL Dolphins Resolute

After losing their last two games, against Warriors and Ndejje University Angels, JKL were bound to lose three in a row with Oilers standing in their way.

But they kept believing, they never respected Oilers from the word go, great thanks to Muramba who came with a point to prove against his former side.

Daniel Manoja was near perfect in the first half, scoring 12 points from 4/4 shooting before Muramba added 9 for JKL to lead 37-26.

But they almost squandered it in the last quarter with Oilers scoring 24 points at the back of Josh Johnson’s good display, against JKL’s 13.

JKL shot 36% from the field and made 11 steals, to benefit from Oilers 17 turnovers and a a lowly 17 points off the bench, which is poor by Oilers standards.

Brian Namake supplemented the efforts with 13 points while Ferdinand Odama added 10 points as Joseph Wacha and Yesman Bushiri provided cover at the back court.