Rezlife fell 88-55 to defending champions City Oilers at Lugogo Indoor Stadium to drop to a 0-3 record early in the season.
Rezlife will have to wait longer for their maiden win in the National Basketball League after yet another defeat on Wednesday night.
The newly promoted side fell 88-55 to defending champions City Oilers at Lugogo Indoor Stadium to drop to a 0-3 record early in the season.
Head coach Daniel Juuko played and won eight league titles with the Oilers but is now stepping into new waters in his young coaching career.
A clash with his former side is one he expected to be challenging and led by point guard Fayed Baale, who knocked down five three en route to a game-high 19 points, Oilers cleared any sort of doubts Juuko’s players might have had in their minds.
And after the game, Juuko revealed his side did just enough to avoid an embarrassing loss.
“We were rushing in the first quarter, but the boys got composed later. That’s how we managed to close the gap; otherwise, the gap was too big,” Juuko said after the game.
“We couldn’t stand losing a game by 100 points,” he added.
Power became the first team to concede a century this season when they lost 106-49 to Oilers.
“We were rushing on offence. We were giving our opponents a chance to run at us; once we correct those, I think we shall be in a good position,” Juuko, a calm and collected point guard in his playing days, noted.
The oilers got off to a good start and led 19-10 at the end of the first quarter. They then took the second frame 26-12 to lead by 23 points (45-22) going into the halftime break.
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19:29 - 29.03.2023
BASKETBALL Rezlife's resilience not good enough to stop Oilers
The City Oilers continued with their winning streak in the National Basketball League with a dominant 88-55 victory over Rezlife Saints
In the end, Rezlife lacked enough quality to take on the eight-time champions and lost by 33 points (88-55).
The young tactician recognizes the strength of his former side, which he says recruited well and has players to hurt an opponent in different ways.
“They are playing well, they are on top of their game, and anyone can hurt you at any time. I think this is the fastest team they have ever assembled, and I believe they are using that to the maximum. They are running, and they are shooting the ball well.”
Baale, Titus Lual and Michael Ngut are some of the Oilers’ recruits and have all fit in quite well to give Mandy Juruni options.
Baale has greatly improved his three-point shooting and went five-for-11 from downtown Wednesday night.
Lual, on the other hand, had a double-double of 18 points and 15 rebounds. He is averaging 12 points and 10 rebounds in the first four games for his new team.
Ngut, who is averaging 11.3 points, got 11 on the night as Oilers stretched their winning streak.
Timothy Thok got 13 points and 11 rebounds for Rezlife, while Micheal Othieno registered 12 points, three rebounds and two assists.
For Rezlife, the search for a first win will stretch to next week when they face Ndejje University Angels.
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