UCU Basketball will be without head coach Nicholas Natuhereza when their men’s and women’s teams begin their National Basketball League semifinal playoff campaigns on Wednesday at Lugogo.
The UCU Canons face the Namuwongo Blazers, while the UCU Lady Canons take on the KCCA Leopards in their respective best-of-five semifinal series.
Natuhereza, who coaches both teams, travelled with Uganda’s national 3×3 basketball team to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
The Ugandan squad making the trip comprises Melissa Akullu, Jamila Nansikombi, Jane Asinde and Perus Nyamwenge as the team prepares to make its Commonwealth Games debut.
The Lady Canons head into their series against the Leopards full of confidence after completing a regular-season double over KCCA. UCU claimed a 51-34 victory in the first-round meeting before cruising to a 65-37 win in the return fixture last month.
To reach the semifinals, the Lady Canons swept aside the KIU Rangers, while KCCA eased past the UPDF Lady Tomahawks.
The men’s semifinal presents a much tougher challenge for the UCU Canons, who lost both regular-season meetings against the Namuwongo Blazers.
The Blazers claimed a 70-58 victory in the first-round encounter before emphatically winning 82-39 in the second meeting. In that defeat, Alier Pech Lier Jongroor scored 11 points, while Daniel Muganzi added 10 for the Canons.
The Blazers booked their place in the last four with a series sweep over the JT Jaguars. UCU, meanwhile, needed a decisive Game Three to edge the Victoria Crocs and secure their semifinal berth.
In Natuhereza’s absence, assistant coach Emmanuel Kiguyi will take charge of both the men’s and women’s teams.
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