Watoto Basketball Club have secured promotion to the National Basketball League after completing a remarkable comeback against Berkley in the Division One Playoffs.

Watoto won Sunday’s decisive Game Five 54-51 at YMCA Court in Wandegeya, completing a 3-2 series victory after recovering from a 2-0 deficit to win three consecutive games.

Victor Aaron Makmot led Watoto with a game-high 20 points, while Sydney David Walusimbi added 10 points and nine rebounds.

Emmanuel Omara and Andrew Kirabo also contributed 15 and 10 rebounds respectively to help Watoto complete the turnaround.

Berkley, meanwhile, had Emmanuel Opio to thank for his double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Richard Anyunva added 11 points, but their efforts were not enough to prevent elimination.

The result marked a painful collapse for Berkley who had appeared in control of the series after winning the opening two games. They also led 29-24 at halftime on Sunday but were undone by 30 turnovers as Watoto rallied to snatch victory.

Watoto will now face KIU Titans in the Division One final after the latter eliminated YMCA Hamstars in the other semifinal series.

Both finalists have earned promotion to the National Basketball League for the next season.

They will replace Kampala Rockets and UPDF Tomahawks, who were relegated from the top flight.

In the women’s Division One competition, Seeta High School and Kampala University Ladies secured promotion to the National Basketball League.