Sunday

Rwanda 51-65 Tunisia

The national basketball team had a weekend to forget as they ended their 2023 FIBA basketball World Cup qualifying campaign on a disappointing note after losing 51-65 to Tunisia in their third and final Group B game on Sunday, February 27, at the Dakar Arena in Senegal.

Rwanda lost their first two games, including a 56-68 defeat in opener against South Sudan on Friday before losing their second game 45-57 at the hands of Cameroon the following day.

A win on Sunday against Tunisia would have been enough for Cheikh Sarr and his team to keep their hopes of staying in the race for a ticket to the World Cup ahead of Window 2 which takes place in June, but the reigning African champions proved too tough to beat by winning the first three quarters by 22-16, 16-6 and 16-10 respectively.

Skipper Olivier Shyaka and his teammates won the fourth and final quarter at 16-11 but it was too late for them to do a comeback.

With the defeat, Rwanda finished bottom of the table with 3 points, a point being Cameroon and two behind Tunisia while South Sudan, who are unbeaten in the first window, sit top of the charts with six (6) points.

"The difference in this competition is that we have only two professional players while others are young players that lack experience. I appreciate their efforts especially in the last game because they gave everything. We just lost due to lack of experience,” a disappointed Sarr said in a post-match press conference.

The team returns to Kigali on Tuesday, March 1, aboard an Ethiopian airline.

Meanwhile, Luol Deng’s side South Sudan are on a solid rise to the helm of African Basketball and have been impressive during the just-concluded FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Qualifiers after coming out victorious during the past three matches, including a shock win over reigning African champions Tunisia who hadn’t lost to an African side since 2018.

Group B standing

South Sudan    6points

Tunisia           5points

Cameroon      4points

Rwanda          3 points