Rwanda’s Men’s National Basketball Team finished the FIBA Zone Five Afro-CAN Qualifiers with a 70-48 victory over Burundi at Tanzania’s Benjamin Mkapa Indoor Court in Dar es Salaam. Rwanda has secured a place in the final event, which will be contested in Luanda, Angola, from July 8 to July 16.
Cheikh Sarr’s team was out for vengeance after losing 52-53 to Aaron Kagabo’s team in the last group stage game on June 21.
Rwanda started the game strong, leading 27-11 after the first quarter. Both sides made the same play in the second quarter, resulting in a 16-16 tie, but Rwanda led 43-27 at halftime.
Cheikh Sarr’s boys extended their lead to 18 points in the third quarter, defeating Aaron Kagabo’s boys 13-12. They retained their cool in the fourth quarter, winning 13-9 to conclude with a 70-48 triumph.
Rwanda’s best scorer was William Robeyns, who scored 19 points while also collecting five rebounds and dishing out three assists.
South Sudan, on the other side, defeated Tanzania 75-51 in the third-place match.
Rwanda joined the four highest-ranked teams from the 2019 Afro-CAN, DR Congo, Kenya, Angola, and Morocco, in qualifying for the FIBA Afro-Can 2023.
The other national teams who have already qualified are Cameroon, which will represent Zone Four, and Mozambique, which will represent Zone Six.
The FIBA Afro-Can competition will be held for the second time in 2023.
