City Oilers (Uganda)
30/09/2016
Africa
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City Oilers eye maiden FIBA Africa Zone 5 crown

DAR ES SALAAM (FIBA Africa Champions Cup 2016) - Ugandan outfit City Oilers will be looking to bag their inaugural FIBA Africa Zone 5 Club Championships title when the regional tournament gets underway from 1-7 October in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The tournament serves as a qualifier for this year’s African Champions Cup (ACC) to be staged in December in Cairo, Egypt, and the winner of the Dar es Salaam showdown will join the 12-team ACC.

Rwandan international Kami Kabangu, who has turned out for his national side four times at the FIBA AfroBasket, wants to guide his club side to achieve the same at their third attempt.

The moneybags finished third on their debut appearance in 2014 in Mombasa and were finalists last year in Kigali losing to Egyptian side Gezira by a basket and now Kabangu believes this is the moment to win the coveted trophy.

"We have what it takes to win. We are well prepared and focused and have set our target. After coming short twice, I think we know what it takes to win this tournament. This is the third consecutive time we are here. We have grown in terms of experience and confidence," Kabangu explained.

Meanwhile, Espoir of Rwanda have also made their title credentials known before tip off and newly appointed coach Karim Nkusi is eager to lift the title as a coach.

He told FIBA.com: "We are going to give our effort at the tournament to make sure that we go as far as possible. We have both experienced and young players so the combination will be good for us."

A total of 10 men's teams from five countries including Kenya, Rwanda, host Tanzania, Uganda and debutants South Sudan will tussle it out for one slot to the 2016 FIBA Africa Champions Cup (ACC).

List of participating teams at this year’s ACC Zone 5 qualifier: Espoir, Patriots (Rwanda), Ulinzi, USIU (Kenya), National Engineering, Citizen (South Sudan), ABC, Savio (Tanzania), City Oilers, UCU(Uganda).

FIBA