Warriors 43-49 City Oilers: Champions march to seventh straight final

City Oilers qualified for an unprecedented seventh straight National Basketball League Playoff Final after defeating Warriors 49-43 in Game 4 on Friday night at Lugogo Indoor Stadium.

The Oilers despite having three players (Stephen Omony, Francis Azolibe and Jonah Egau) out of the series and three others (Landry Ndikumana, Tony Drileba and Josh Johnson) banged-up ahead of the Game 4 limped through the game watched by a capacity crowd.

Warriors, on the other hand, were without Trevour Ojoo throughout the series while Jonathan Kambala and Michael Bazangu played with injuries and their mobility was limited in the low scoring win-or-bounce game for the two-time champions.

Three points (11-8) separated the two sides on the poor shooting night with Oilers in the lead. Stanley Mugerwa levelled the game with the second possession of the second quarter but as the period expired the Oilers had opened a six-point (25-19) lead.

Tsaubah Stone Warriors’ Amisi Said and Stanley Mugerwa double up on City Oilers’ Landry Ndikumana

With a 14-point third-quarter performance, Warriors took a 2-point (35-33) advantage into the final period. However, like Game 3, Warriors were scoreless in the final five minutes of the game at Oilers booked a date with UCU Canons who had a day earlier eliminated Power.

James Okello, the only Oiler to score in double figured, had 11 points and picked 14 rebounds. Jimmy Enabu contributed 8 points off the bench while Landry Ndikumana scored as may points and pulled down 18 rebounds.

Amisi Saidi matched game-high 11 points in a losing effort. Stanley Mugerwa scored 8 points and picked 10 rebounds.

The finals start on Wednesday, November 28 at Lugogo Indoor Stadium.