Mali stay unbeaten, Uganda make it count against Morocco
Title contenders Mali left no one in doubt that they wanted a clean sweep of their Group games as they beat host Tunisia 77-42 to remain top of Group A with 8 points from 4 games.
MONASTIR (Tunisia) – Title contenders Mali on Monday left no-one in doubt that they wanted a clean sweep of Group A of the ongoing 2023 FIBA U16 African Championship as they trounced hosts Tunisia 77-42 to improve to 4-0.
It was Tunisia's fourth defeat in as many games.
Even Ahmed Bedoui's 17 points could not prevent Tunisia from dropping to 0-4.
On the other hand, Sekou Ousmane Bagayoko finished with 14 points in the winning cause.
UGANDA MAKE IT COUNT AGAINST MOROCCO
With losses to Chad 91-70 and Egypt 116-48, Uganda mustered all the courage they could to overcome Morocco 85-80 in a game that was already looking in favor of the Atlas Lions.
Coach Moses Okwera and his 8-man roster did a perfect job to keep the Moroccans in check to grab a win in their third game of the Group stage.
Morocco took the first quarter 21-20, but gave up the lead in the second quarter 21-14 in favor of Uganda.
The third quarter saw Morocco back into the game at 28-20 and Uganda fought back in the last quarter to lead 24-17 in the game that had 14 lead changes and scored tied 4 times.
Uganda had 28 points from turnovers against 21 for Morocco. Tejan Joel Rugette held forte for Uganda with a game high double-double 35 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, Harry Tindyebwa added 20 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists.
Tindyebwa said the win was important for Uganda as they go into their last game on Tuesday against Guinea. "We did struggle at some points in the game but we will stay humble and fight harder in our next game, the point guard told FIBA.basketball."
ANGOLA SNATCH VICTORY FROM RWANDA IN GROUP A
Angola and Rwanda concluded their Group A games on a very high tempo and plenty of drama with sides going through to the Quarter-Final stage.
Angola finished 3-1 to finish the Group stage with 7 points while Rwanda were 2-2 for 6 points.
Angola clinched victory in the dying seconds of the game that ended 60-59.
Celestino Augusto tied the game at 59-59 with 1:45 seconds to go and made it one out of two free-throws to close the game out with 19 seconds left.
Josemar Cesar who led the floor with 22 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists said it was a victory well deserved. "Rwanda was very difficult but it's great we won."
Rwanda center Ivan with 18 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist said the Angolans muscled them out. Rwanda coach Patrick Habiyaremye said he would rather take the game as a lesson learnt and not a loss. "We could not hold the last 12 seconds of the game. I take this as a lesson for other games going forward."
GUINEA IMPROVE TO 3-0 TO STAY TOP OF GROUP B
Guinea are on a roller coaster mood as they took their record to 3-0 in Group B of the FIBA U16 African Championship.
They added Chad to their list of conquered teams in the championship with a final score of 82-64.
Guinea took charge of the first quarter 27-15 but conceded the second and third respectively. They eventually came back in the last quarter at 22-6 to confirm superiority over Chad.
Again, it was Nour Gassim that that led the floor for Guinea with 27 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists followed by Araphane Diane with a double-double of 18 points and 24 rebounds, while Mohamed Lamine Toure contributed 14 points and 24 rebounds.
The defeat leaves Chad in fourth place in the group with a 2-1 mark and game to spare in the Group Phase.
FIBA