UJ Basketball crowned 2023 USSA Champions
Five clubs from across the country competed in this year’s USSA championships.
The University of Johannesburg’s (UJ) senior men’s basketball team (UJ Orange Wave) were crowned champions of the 2023 University Sport South Africa (USSA).
Orange Wave men won the championship having been unbeaten in six games. In the opening match, they won 69–37 against the University of Free State. From then on, they won 63–43 against Stellenbosch University, 93–33 against Mangosuthu University of Technology, 78–54 against the University of Pretoria in the quarter-final, and 63–44 against the University of Cape Town in the semi-final, as well as 73–58 against Tshwane University of Technology in the final.
This competition, which was hosted by University of KwaZulu-Natal, saw UJ Galaxy, UJ’s senior women’s basketball team, also take part. They fell short in the semi-final, bowing out with a marginal 47–51 loss to the University of Pretoria. With fairly a young and inexperienced squad, UJ Galaxy showed their grit with just two experienced players in their team.
“Winning here tonight is more of a relief because we have been finishing in second places, but this time around I think we have made our management and the UJ community happy, I’m ecstatic,” said head coach, Mandla Ngema.
Orang Wave’s captain Nino Dim said, “Throughout the tournament, our aim was to finish as champions. I told the boys to play as if we were 20 points down, to go harder. We did exactly that and I’m proud of the team. We showed character, resilience, and determination. Finally, we are the champions after coming short of victory in the past two years.”
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