Armée Patriotique Rwandaise Basketball Club, commonly known simply as APR, is a Rwandan basketball club based in kigali . Owned and funded by the Ministry of Defence of Rwanda , the team plays in the Rwanda Basketball League (RBL). It is the most decorated team in the country, as APR has won 14 national championships. In 2008, APR became the first team in league history to finish the regular season unbeaten. After its thirtheenth championship in 2009, APR had a 13-year long drought before winning another title in 2023.
APR BBC and REG BBC team met this Sunday, September 03, 2023 at the BK Arena in Remera. This was a 2nd duel among the 7 playoff matches planned between the 2 major teams of the Rwandan basketball championship.
The REG team started the meeting well. The remarkable performances of Adonis Filer, Pitchou Manga and Pascal Niyonkuru allowed REG BBC to win the first quarter (20 points out of 12).
The BBC APR team then recovered during the 2nd quarter to return to the score. The end of the 2nd quarter, which corresponds to the half-time, ended with a tie of points (36-36).
The APR BBC team continued with its domination over REG BBC. APR BBC won the 3rd quarter with 52 points out of 49. Axel Mpoyo and De Marcus Holland made the difference for APR BBC during this part of the game. As a result, the APR BBC team gained the upper hand over REG BBC with 3 quarters out of 1.
APR BBC continued at the same pace and was able to win the 4th and last quarter of the game. This performance therefore allowed APR BBC to win this 2nd game of the plays offs. This is therefore a 2nd victory in a row for APR BBC over REG BBC. APR BBC is starting to dream of the title.
The dream comes true and APR are celebrating their first Basketball league championship in 14 years after completing a sweep of Rwanda Energy Group (REG) in the playoffs finals on Saturday.
The club has been celebrating the coveted trophy for the last couple of days, but while they are still in such a mood, the management is already looking ahead at winning more – this time on the continental scene
Mazen Trakh the seasoned American coach at the helm of the club, is already working together with his his counterparts on the technical bench to find the best foreign players to boost the club’s roster. He flew out to New York, United States, to scout a couple of players that APR could potentially trade.
Trakh thinks the team can get some of the best players who can put his team in a very good place. Here, if nothing changes, besides the Americans that he wants to bring to the team, he expects to get a couple of Africans who play from the United States too.
This is a process that has to be finalised in time because the team wants to enter a residential camp not later than December, in order to start intensive preparations as early as possible.
“I think we will finalise our Rwandan roster first, so that we know what positions we have in Rwanda. Then we will (continue) with the African continent,” Trakh told Times Sport.
Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to a Rwandan mother and a Congolese father in 1997, he left the country at a young age along with his family to live in the USA where he started playing basketball.
As his game took shape, he played for various teams in the USA including Meridian High School (Idaho State), the North Eastern Junior College as well as Grambling State University in Louisiana before signing for Apoel, a Cyprus-based club.
Since 2021, the 25-year-old has been plying his trade in Rwanda for top clubs like APR and Rwanda Energy Group (REG), helping the latter win the 2021/2022, a feat that got him named the Most valuable player (MVP) 2022.
In an interview with Times Sport, Mpoyo reflected on his time in Rwanda, describing the experience as one he has really enjoyed.
“I’ve really enjoyed playing in Rwanda these past two years. It’s been a great learning experience as I have learned so much from my coaches and teammates but most importantly, I built bonds that will last a lifetime,” he said.
Asked about what the 2021/2022 MVP award means to him as a player, he said it means a lot as it showed that hard work pays off, but noted that it was not something that he had set for himself as a personal goal.
“Winning MVP was never my goal, I’m a team player and my goal is always to win. But It was an honor to receive MVP and it will just motivate me to work harder going forward,” he said.
In conclusion, despite the drought that APR experienced, it did not get discouraged, but continued to persevere while improving. Their efforts paid off and in the end, they won the title in 2023.
