Defeat against Al Ahly on Saturday would leave the Oilers needing to win the rest of the games back-to-back to get their campaign in order.
City Oilers got a rough welcome to the Basketball Africa League table after a crashing 89-71 loss to Angola's Petro de Luanda Thursday night.
That is one game lost and four games left to play in the race for the top four places in the Nile Conference.
Only four teams will progress to the playoffs in Kigali, Rwanda and whether the Ugandan champions will be one of those will be known at the end of the regular season.
Having overcome a sluggish start to the game and made it a contest, Oilers were simply outclassed by Petro down the stretch in the fourth frame.
Falando Jones finished with a game-high of 22 points, while James Justice Jr added 20 for the Ugandan champions, with Titus Lual being the only other player to score in double figures.
One of the game's takeaways is that Oilers found it hard on the inside and were second-best on the night.
The inside presence of Ater Majok and Aboubacar Gakou cut out drives to the basket for the Oilers and limited second-chance points.
The Angolan outrebounded Oilers 54-36 and limited them to four second-chance points.
Poor bench productivity
Three of the five starters for the Oilers scored in double figures. Jones, Justice Jr. and Lual were the only players who got going for the eight-time Ugandan champions on offence.
Ngor Barnaba had his minutes on the floor limited due to foul trouble and only got three points in 12 minutes before fouling out.
Germaine Roebuck Jr. was also limited to just six points in 28 minutes.
If the bench players were supposed to play the supporting role to the four new acquisitions and Lual, they did little to help Oilers' cause.
Fayed Baale (2), Abdihakim Ghedi (1), Jimmy Enabu (3), Tonny Drileba (0) and Segun Obe (3) and James Okello (1) came off the bench and combined for a dismal 10 points.
Tricky
The Oilers' next opponent could not have been more formidable. Home team Al Ahly will be looking to make two wins in two when the two sides meet on Saturday.
Having defeated Ferroviario da Beira 92-74 in the opener, the hosts can move closer to booking their playoffs ticket with a victory against Oilers.
And in a five-game tournament, time keeps running out every time a team loses.
Defeat against Al Ahly on Saturday would leave the Oilers needing to win the rest of the games back-to-back to get their campaign in order.
Both Mandy Juruni and guard Drileba highlighted the need for the team to share the ball a lot more going forward, and that must have been a message to Justice Jr., the team's newest member.
The guard shot six for 17 from the field and had some expensive misses that had Petro away in transition.
The error margin for Juruni and his troops is narrowing after one defeat, and a response will be required on Saturday to get back on track.
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