The National Basketball League Playoff semifinal match-ups are complete after Rezlife Saints advanced to the second round on Sunday.
Rezlife took full advantage of Sommet’s late collapse to edge the decisive Game 3, 69-61, at Lugogo and advance to the playoff semifinals for the first time.
The Saints trailed by five points (61-56) with 4:25 to play in the fourth quarter, but put on a 13-0 run the rest of the period to claim the history-making victory.
RezLife controlled the opening quarter 19-15, but Sommet wrestled back in the second, taking a narrow 36-35 lead into halftime, thanks largely to young point guard Matthew Kisakye, who stepped off the bench and took the game to the Saints.
The third quarter was a close contest, but Rezlife had a 2-point (51-49) edge with Chris Omanye, who was in foul trouble, and Edrine Ekau doing the heavy lifting offensively.
Sommet took care of the early stages of the fourth quarter and looked destined for victory as they managed the game well for six minutes, opening a 5-point lead. However, the wheels fell off when Rezlife ran a press and forced a couple of turnovers and took control of the game the rest of the way.
Ekau (17), Michael Otieno (13), Omanye (10), and Hon Kwany (10) scored in double figures for the Saints.
Kisakye had a game-high 20 points in a losing effort. Kuol Dieu (13) and Peter Cheng (10) also scored in double digits for Sommet.
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