APR BBC and Patriots BBC will renew one of Rwanda’s biggest basketball rivalries on Tuesday evening when they meet in Game 1 of the Cheetah Energy Rwanda Basketball League (RBL) Playoffs final at BK Arena.
Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m., with the championship series being played in a best-of-seven format. The first team to win four games will be crowned Rwanda’s 2026 league champion.
Defending champions APR, coached by James Maye Jr, reached the final after eliminating RSSB Tigers BBC 3-2 in the semifinals. Patriots, under head coach Niyomugabo Munyandamutsa Sunny, booked their place after overcoming REG BBC by the same margin.
The final is a repeat of the 2024 championship series, when APR defeated Patriots 4-2 to lift the title. APR are also the defending champions, having won their 16th league title in 2025.
This will be only the second time APR and Patriots have met in the RBL playoff final, adding another chapter to a rivalry that has produced some of the league’s most competitive games.
For Patriots coach Niyomugabo Munyandamutsa Sunny, the series represents his first opportunity to lead the club in a championship final since taking over as head coach in January 2025.
He became only the second Rwandan to serve as Patriots’ head coach, following Karima Cyrille, who coached the club in 2014.
APR coach James Maye Jr, meanwhile, brings significant playoff-final experience. He guided APR to consecutive league titles in 2024 and 2025 and will now seek a third straight championship.
Maye joined APR in 2024 as an assistant coach before being promoted to head coach. He was also part of the RSSB Tigers coaching staff that helped the club win the BAL title earlier this year, serving as an assistant to Henry Mwinuka.
APR remain Rwanda’s most successful basketball club, with 16 league championships, including the last three.
Patriots, who entered the top-flight league in 2014, have won four titles. Their most successful run came between 2018 and 2020, when they claimed three consecutive championships.
Both clubs have achieved the feat of winning three successive league titles, alongside Espoir BBC.
Patriots were also Rwanda’s first representatives in the Basketball Africa League (BAL), finishing fourth in the inaugural edition in 2021 after losing to Petro de Luanda in the third-place playoff.
APR finished the regular season at the top of the nine-team standings with 30 points from 16 games, winning 14 and losing two.
They scored 1,515 points and conceded 1,115, giving them a point differential of +400.
Patriots finished second with 29 points after winning 13 of their 16 games. They scored 1,388 points and conceded 1,155 for a +233 point differential.
The two sides split their regular-season meetings. APR won the first encounter 78-75 before Patriots responded with a 69-67 victory in the return fixture.
The figures underline APR’s offensive strength, while Patriots have shown greater defensive efficiency, setting up an intriguing contrast in the final.
APR averaged 91.8 points per game during their five-game semifinal series against RSSB Tigers, scoring 459 points and conceding 435.
Patriots, meanwhile, averaged 75 points per game against REG, scoring 375 points and conceding 356 across their five semifinal games.
APR’s offensive numbers stand out, while Patriots’ ability to limit opponents’ scoring could prove crucial in a series where small margins may determine the outcome.
For APR, Leonard Craig Randall II will be one of the key players to watch after scoring 218 points for the team. Marquise Teafale Lenard Jr, Filer Jovon Adonis and Ntore Habimana are also expected to play important roles.
Patriots will rely heavily on Damaria Franklin, who has scored 455 points for the club. Jeffrey Stubbs, Chingka Garba Kennedy and Hubert Sage Kwizera have also been among the team’s notable performers during the playoffs.
With the regular-season series tied 1-1 and both teams reaching the final after five-game semifinal battles, Game 1 is expected to set the tone for what could be a closely contested championship series.
