Basketball: Contrasting fortunes for Uganda’s juniors in Tunisia

The FIBA U16 African Championships witnessed intense matchups as the Junior Gazelles and Junior Silverbacks battled it out on the court.

While the Gazelles found redemption after a tough start, the Silverbacks continued to toil in their quest for victory.

In their opening fixture, the Gazelles faced the formidable hosts, Tunisia. Despite their efforts, they fell short with a final score of 74-50.

However, they wasted no time in regrouping and showed their resilience in their second match overpowering Guinea in an impressive 89-50 win.

Coach John Omondi rallied his charges from an 18-15 first-quarter deficit to lead 26-16 in the second quarter and go into the halftime break with a seven-point lead.

The girls exploded for 31 points in the third quarter, 23 of those scored in the final five minutes of the period to go 29 points up and this did not relent in the fourth quarter. 

On the other hand, the Junior Silverbacks remain winless after they lost 91-70 defeat at the hands of Chad on Saturday.

The second match ended in a disappointing score of 116-48 in favour of Egypt on Sunday.

Ali Assran was one of two Egyptians to finish with a double-double alongside Youssef Elhalawany.

Assran contributed 23 points and 18 rebounds while Elhalawany came up with 17 points and 14 assists as Egypt improved to 2-1.

Though Tejan Joel Rugette led the scoring with a game-high 24 points, his efforts went in vain.

Guard Amos Mugisha promised to that the boys will bounce back when they next take to the court.

"This result is not what we planned and the Egyptians surprised us but we're not giving up as we look forward to making it to the next round,” said Mugisha.

The Junior Gazelles lie second with three points in Group B, where the host Tunisia leads the group with five points while Egypt and Guinea have two points each.

The Junior Silverbacks are pointless at the bottom of Group B while Egypt leads the group with five points.

U16 African Championships

Junior Gazelles

Tunisia 76 Uganda 50

Guinea 50 Uganda 89

Junior Silverbacks

Chad 91 Uganda 70

Uganda 48 Egypt 116