City Oilers cruised past KIU Titans in the National Basketball League following an 83-76 victory in game four on Friday evening at Lugogo Arena.
The victory ascended the record eight champions into a comfortable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five series.
Going into game five, City Oilers will need just a victory to be announced the NBL champions for the ninth straight season.
Meanwhile, KIU will need to read Namuwongo Blazers’ book who managed to level the series 3-3 coming from 3-1 down hence forcing a game seven in last season’s NBL Finals.
The Titans took the first period 25-19 and lost the second 27-16, the Kasanga-based side went into the halftime break trailing by five points.
After the long break, the Titans returned well-motivated and responded with a 22-15 win in the third frame creating a two-point lead.
Oilers’ experience came into play, as the game tied 73-73 with three minutes to play. Titus Lual and Tonny Drilleba connected from outside the arc to create the edge.
At the final whistle, Titans’ fans were silent as Mandy Juruni’s troops ran away with the final quarter posting a 22-13 win.
James Okello harvested a double-double, making 10 points and pulling down 14 rebounds.
Titus Lual, Tony Drilleba, Luak Ruai and Jimmy Enabu also turned up for the party scoring 16, 13, 12 and 11 points respectively.
Saidi Amisi scored a game-high 25 points in a losing effort. Joseph Chuma and Edgar Munaaba added 12 points each while Joel Lukoji contributed 10 points for KIU.
The two sides will meet on Sunday on Judgement Day in game five.
