Rwanda, Tunisia battle for FIBA semi-finals slot today

Hosts Rwanda face a daunting test when they take on Tunisia in the quarter-finals of the 2016 FIBA Africa U-18 Africa Men’s Basketball Championship at Amahoro indoor stadium today.

Friday, July 29, 2016

Today

Classification gameBenin vs Gabon 11:15am

Quarter-finalsIvory Coast vs Angola 1:30pmAlgeria vs Egypt 3:45pmTunisia vs Rwanda 6pmDR Congo vs Mali 8:15pm

Hosts Rwanda face a daunting test when they take on Tunisia in the quarter-finals of the 2016 FIBA Africa U-18 Africa Men’s Basketball Championship at Amahoro indoor stadium today.

Coach Moise Mutokambali’s team pulled off a well deserved victory over Algeria 53-40 on Wednesday to secure second place in Group A, behind Mali.

With the backing of the home crowd, Rwanda had an upper hand to shed off disappointment from their Mali loss on Monday. Cadeaue de Dieu Furaha scored the team high 13 points and 15 rebounds.

Tunisia, the beaten finalists from the last edition held in Madagascar, defeated Uganda 89-73, taking advantage of the lapse in concentration from the East African debutants.

Uganda led the first quarter 21-20 but a continuous run of turnovers in the last three minutes of the last quarter, cost them what would have been a remarkable victory.

"We have achieved our first goal of reaching the quarter-finals, now we are focusing on doing well against Tunisia.  Tunisia will be another tricky battle, but we believe everything is possible, we shall go into the game with the same determination,” Mutokambali said.

Elsewhere, Ivory Coast will take on title hopefuls Angola. Angola saw off Egypt 84-65 in the final Group B game to remain unbeaten and retain their group’s top spot.

Bruno Fernanades scored 26 points, including four three pointers and 10 rebounds, to inspire Angola to a much deserved victory. 

His teammate Silvio Sousa, who has quickly become a crowd favourite, added 23 points but it was his stylish dunks that got the fans awarding him a standing ovation every time he was substituted.

Defending champions Egypt will take on Algeria in a North Africa derby while Democratic Republic of Congo, who recorded the biggest win at the tournament following a 120-65 win over Benin, will be up against Mali.

Jospin Kakule scored the game high 32 points, which is also the highest individual score so far in the tournament.

Mali maintained a 100% winning record with a convincing 91-39 win over Gabon to finish top of Group A with eight points from four wins.

In the classification game, Benin take on Gabon in the opening game of the day, today; and the winner will face Uganda on Saturday.

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