By Johnson Akilis • Published July 14, 2024, at 7:00 am

The Black Jaguars’ season isn’t over yet, despite falling to the KIU Titans, 60-51, in Game 1 of their Best-of-3 NBL playoff series. This marks the Titans’ third victory over the Jaguars this season, a challenging rival for the youngest and newest team in the NBL.

“It was a tough loss; we had the game until the last three minutes,” said George Agasi. “We also had a few turnovers and, worst of all, we strayed from our plan to limit three-point shots.” Now according to me, limiting 3-point shots to just four against the Titans to me is an achievement, but if J’star still calls that bad, then bad it is. Titans’ shooting guard Tembo was limited to only two three-pointers, an unusually low number for him. Fortunately, Kevin Moru responded swiftly, tying the three-point category.

The game was close from the first quarter to the last three minutes, despite George William being held scoreless throughout. “It was a bad day; let’s own this loss and learn from it to come back stronger in Game 2,” Agasi added.

The Black Jaguars started strong, with Kevin Moru hitting three consecutive three-pointers, giving the Jaguars an 11-8 lead in the first quarter. The second quarter was more aggressive, with the scoreboard changing multiple times until the Titans took the lead, 28-27.

In the fourth quarter, the game remained fiercely competitive, with both teams exchanging leads and neither pulling ahead by more than two points until the 3:40 mark. As the Jaguars began to tire, the next 3 minutes were brutal, especially for remote followers like me, who had to track the game on FUBA while away in Mukono. The Titans capitalized on the Jaguars’ fatigue, launching a 15-0 run that saw them cruise to win the game.

Speaking to Abu Bakar Kasasa, “The 4th period came with a lot of turnovers and misread defense plus fouls, which saw the Titans rise,” he added. “We have lost and learned. Come Game 2, we win, Insha Allah.”

The Good

  1. The Black Jaguars showed tremendous spirit. Their first game against KIU ended with a 27-point deficit, the second with a 26-point deficit, and now just a 9-point gap. This shows clear progress.
  2. Their three-point shooting has improved. Six games ago, the Jaguars couldn’t make three-point shots for whatever reason they had. Now, Kevin Moru is consistently making crucial shots.

The Bad

  1. We lost Game 1 to the Titans.