Afrobasket: Rwanda to face DRC in final warm-up game

TuesdayRwanda vs DR Congo 4pmSundayMali 68-67 Rwanda Rwanda will face neighbours, Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday afternoon in the third and final warm-up game ahead of the FIBA Afrobasket Championships for Men in Tunisia. Moise Mutokambali’s team have already lost two warm-up games against Central African Republic and Mali on Thursday and Sunday respectively. This year’s African Basketball Championships is scheduled for September 6-16 in Senegal and Tunisia. Rwanda lost 48-73 to Central African Republic before suffering a narrow 67-68 defeat at the hands of Mali on Sunday evening in Sousse, Tunisia. On Sunday, Rwanda led by 66-64 going into the last 9 seconds of the game, but they failed to manage late pressure from the West Africans. IPRC-Kigali’s Steven Havugintwari was Rwanda’s top scorer with 18 points; Kami Kabange contributed 16 points, while Canada-based Hamza Ruhezamihigo added another 14 points. “Generally, we played well. It’s unfortunate that we failed to manage the final 9 seconds. The defeat is a big lesson of what we should work on before the Afrobasket starts,” Mutokambali said in a post-game interview. He added that, “We are now shifting focus on the DRC match on Tuesday, a team that has the same style of play as Cameroon. It’s going to be a good test and a good platform for our foreign-based players, who just joined us here.” Rwanda has been drawn in Group C alongside Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and the hosts Tunisia. In the meantime, all the four foreign-based players finally arrived in Tunisia and all featured in Sunday’s game against Mali. Those include; Patrice Twagirayezu, Kenneth Wilson Gasana, Dan Manzi and Adonis Rwabigwi. Rwanda will start her quest for Afrobasket glory facing Guinea on September 8; play the second game against Tunisia on Sept. 9 before rounding off the group stages against Cameroon the next day. Group A and C matches as well all knock-out stages will be hosted by Tunisia while Senegal will be home to Group B and D matches. The 29th edition of Afrobasket finals is the last edition that the competition is held biennially. The next edition will be held in 2021, making it a once in four years’ event. Rwanda has made it to the finals of Africa’s biggest and most prestigious basketball competition on five occasions in the last six editions since making her debut appearance in 2007, in Angola. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Afrobasket: Rwanda to face DRC in final warm-up game