Nkozi, Masaka SS shine in Jovoc Open basketball tournament

Uganda Martyrs University Nkozi claimed both the men and women titles in the universities' category, while Exodus College Girls, Wakiso and Masaka Secondary School took top accolades in the secondary schools category in the just concluded Jovoc Open basketball tournament.

The tournament was held at St. Joseph's Vocational School (Jovoc) in Mbarara.
 
Nkozi defeated MUBS Nakawa 60-40 in the men's category and 42-39 in the women's category, while Exodus College outsmarted defending reigning champions Maryhill High School 49-6 in the girls' category. In the boys' category, Masaka Secondary School edged out surprise team of the tournament International Window School Mbarara 24-13. Area giant and host Jovoc were eliminated in the semi-finals, while Ntare School and Mbarara High did not make it out of their respective groups,

Hailed as one of the best organised basketball tournaments in the region, this year's sixth edition attracted a record 37 teams in the secondary, university and corporate team categories.

"Our main objective is developing the game here in the west so that our own teams can be able to compete favourably with the rest. We also hope to produce more great players to play in the (NBL) National Basketball League," the organiser of the tournament, Alex Byamukama said

The tournament which started with only eleven (11) teams in 2013 has now exploded into a major event with sponsors and well-wishers coming on board. Teams from as far as Fort Portal, Kabale, Masaka, Wakiso and Kampala made the long trip to Mbarara for the championship.
 
Challenges
Byamukama says running such a big event is no mean task.
 
"We would like to have more facilities, especially basketball courts and also running this event in one day is a big challenge" he says. At the moment we have to courts, but we hope to construct two more courts at school and next year's tournament will run for two days," Byamukama said.