Uganda salvage pride but Kenya, Egypt take honours

Both the men and women national basketball teams reclaimed some pride as the AfroCan and AfroBasket qualifiers concluded at the Lugogo Indoor Arena on Monday evening.

Having already been knocked out of contention for the slots available in their respective qualifiers, both teams recorded victories as the six-day tournament concluded. The men’s team Silverbacks finished third following a 77-71 defeat of Rwanda, who came into the final day in contention with Kenya to qualify for the maiden edition of the AfroCan tournament.

And the Rwandan team led 33-27 at half time before the Silverbacks rallied with Brandon Davies again impressing with a game high 18 points.

Better understanding
Robinson Opong added 17 and Jimmy Enabu 14 for the Silverbacks who seemed to develop a better understanding as the tournament progressed. The former City Oilers center led Rwanda with 14. But the damage had already been done in the opening losses to Kenya and Egypt who qualified as first and second with the latter taking the wild card slot availed by Fiba Africa. The Gazelles, the national women’s team also triumphed 68-64 also against Rwanda to finish third with Egypt defeating Kenya 90-72 to qualify as top seeds.
Five nations took part in the men’s qualifier while four took part in the women’s category.

THE AWARDS
Best Rebounder
Brandon Davies (Uganda)
Fair Play: Team Tanzania
Best Scorer
Baraka Athumani (Tanzania)
MVP: Tyler Ongwae (Kenya)
WOMEN CATEGORY
Fair Play: Team Rwanda
Best Rebounder:
Felmas Adhiambo (Kenya
Best Scorer:
Terra Henderson (Rwanda)
MVP: Menatalla Awag (Egy)