UCU Canons might have defeated City Oilers by 14 points but the difference flatters to deceive. Oilers were terrible on the night and struggled to get going on a cold evening yesterday at YMCA, Wandegeya.
The defending champions shot 15 of 79 from the field and only managed five points in the third quarter as UCU’s defence shut down their go-to players.
“We were just bad and we didn’t deserve to win,” Oilers head coach Mandy Juruni told one of the publications.
“In fact, we are lucky that UCU only beat us by 14 points,” he added.
Only James Okello, who was eventually ejected, managed to score in double-figure – 13 points and 10 rebounds in 22 minutes.
Jimmy Enabu (three), Ruai Luak (six) and Ivan Lumanyika (five) all struggled to get going. Tony Drileba had nine points while the bench managed a paltry eight points with Ivan Muhwezi contributing five and Ceaser Kizito three.
“Games like these happen, we move on to the next one. We missed a lot of shots and didn’t do any of our defensive assignments,” Juruni said.
“One of those games you try to do everything and anything to change body language mentality but nothing works out.”
The City Oilers’ Ivan Lumanyika (R) dribles past an oppenent in a league game. photo/ Daily monitor
Back-to-back ejections for Okello
Oilers’ biggest concern at the moment might have to be how they manage their captain, James Okello. The forward was ejected against Power Friday night after getting a technical for a backchat with the referee and then getting called for an unsportsmanlike foul.
Against UCU, he was sent for an early shower for tapping the referee’s shoulder and asking for the game to be stopped to allow him to get medical attention. Referee Louis Malinga adjudged him to have used excessive force.
“I really think both of them were not worthy ejections. We’ll continue to talk to Okello to control his emotions but I blame those (ejections) on bad calls.”
UCU respond
After their surprise loss to Victoria University-Sharing before the Easter break, UCU Canons needed a response and they got one, a 77-68 win over Ndejje Angels on Friday and a victory over Oilers.
“Two wins in a row mean a lot because we had fallen short after that loss, we had to bounce back,” Canons’ captain Titus Lual, who was named Tusker Lite Player of the Game after getting 14 points and 17 rebounds.
“Against Oilers, we did a decent job defensively and that earned us points on offence. We had to get them before they set up their defence,” he added.
“Oilers being a dominant team, any side would want to come out strong against them and compete. That is what we did.”
The two sides have previously met in the league finals with the City Oilers emerging as the better team comprised of former UCU Canons players in Ivan Lumanyika and Jimmy Enabu, and Jonathan Egau.
The Oilers defeated the Canons in their own backyard in a pre-season tournament, the UCU Open and will hopefully to overcome the defeat going forward.
However, the Canons receive a major boast when former captain Sudi Ulanga returned to the side over five years since leaving the team and will add more pedigree going into the latter games of the regular season.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login