Afrobasket Qualifiers: Rwanda edge Uganda to secure finals ticket
Friday, June 17, 2022

Friday 

Girls  Uganda Vs Rwanda – 7pm

Boys  Tanzania Vs Uganda – 9pm

Thursday, results 

Girls Tanzania 86-79 Rwanda

Boys  Rwanda 72-59 Uganda

The U-18 boys' national basketball team have secured their ticket to the U-18 Afrobasket finals for next month, after beating Uganda 72-59 on Thursday night at the ongoing FIBA U18 Zone V Afrobasket Qualifiers at Lugogo.

The Afrobasket finals will be played at the Mahamasina Sports Palace in Antananarivo in Madagascar from July 23 to August 7.

The defeat means that Uganda can no longer finish as the top team at the ongoing competition, an honour that comes with qualification to FIBA U18 Afrobasket finals in Madagascar.

And that privilege will go to Rwanda who have all but earned a ticket with a game to spare after a strong showing once again.

But Tanzania can still qualify ahead of Rwanda if they win their remaining two games and with huge margins.

The game was tied 33-33 at halftime before Uganda went cold in the second half, starting with the third quarter where they were limited to just 9 points against Rwanda’s 16.

As it was in the first meeting between the two sides on Monday, Rwanda capitalised on their lanky size to bully Uganda in the paint and ended up out-rebounding the Junior Silverbacks 72-36.

Marvin Jesse Okurut scored 14 points, Samuel Ola and Emmanuel Junior had 13 and 10 points respectively for Uganda.

Dick Rutatika Sano who was rested in Thursday’s win over Tanzania, posted 21 points and 11 rebounds for Rwanda, Chandelier Twizeyimama Nshuti rebounded 19 times, Ghishlain Nubaha had 12 points and Hubert Sage added 10 points and as many rebounds for Rwanda.

Uganda’s Joshua Ngoobi struggled in the game and it took him over 10 attempts before getting his first points on board, finishing with 4 points on 1-of-11 shooting.

Boys Group

1. Rwanda – 6

2. Uganda – 4

3. Tanzania – 3