Wednesday, June 28
•Rwanda 56-59 Uganda
Uganda Men’s U16 national basketball team, the Junior Silverbacks, got their FIBA Africa U16 qualifiers campaign off to a good start.
The side beat hosts Rwanda 59-56 in the Zone V championship at the LDK Gymnasium in Kigali.
The game was highly contested, with Uganda trailing 25-27 at halftime before levelling the tie 42-42 heading into the last quarter.
The sides traded punches before the Junior Silverbacks staged a 8-0 run to go ahead, and never relinquished their advantage to win a thriller.
Joel Tejan Rugette was the key chef for Uganda, scoring a double double of 27 points and 13 rebounds.
Captain Christian Turyahabwe and Aaron Victor Makmot added nine points each in the Junior Silverbacks win.
Joseph Nshimiye (16), Juru Cedric Ntigurigwa (14) and David Ganza (10) scored in double digits each for Rwanda.
The Junior Silverbacks return to action on Thursday against Burundi before facing Tanzania on Friday.
The tournament will act as qualifiers for the FIBA U16 Afrobasket championships that are scheduled to take place from August 13-23, 2023 in Tunisia.
