Winning start for the big guns

Rwanda lose opener against Morocco Day oneGroup A Nigeria 93-84 Ivory Coast Libya 88-72 S. Africa Group BEgypt 72-62 Mozambique Angola 79-74 MaliGroup CCameroon 79-69 CAR Senegal 95-68 DRCGroup DMorocco 85-84 Rwanda Cape Verde 71-52 Tunisia BENGHAZI – Rwanda got their FIBA Africa Championship for Men campaign on a losing note after going down 85-84 to Morocco in Group D on Wednesday night while in the same group, Cape Verde beat Tunisia 71-52. Meanwhile, Five-time champions, Egypt got off to a good start in its group-B opening game with a 72-62 points victory over Mozambique at the Benghazi centre of the Libya 2009 Afrobasket. The Egyptians won in the first three quarters (19-15, 18-14 and 26-12) losing the last quarter to the Mozambicans by 21-19 points. The Pharaohs had the upper hand at the board picking 38 rebounds to the Mozambicans’s 25 in a more cautious game.Egypt’s Rami Ibrahim led his teammates with 10 points and six rebounds while the duo of Amir Fanan and Wael Badr added 14 and 13 points respectively to send a warning signal to the other teams in their group. Mozambican Samir Adam scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds just as Custodio Muchate’s effort of 18 points was not enough to save his side from defeat. The game between defending champion, Angola v Mali was a fight to watch as both sides gave a good account of themselves with reigning championship most valuable player, Angola centre, Gomes Joaquim standing out among the lot with a brilliant display of basketball skill which overwhelmed the Malians who succumbed to a five points defeat of 79-74 points. Gomes whose 31 points and 5 rebounds is the highest by any player in the championship helped Angola against a determined Malian side who seemed poised to advance to the next round of the group which also has Egypt and Mozambique. Ends

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Winning start for the big guns