Angola, Egypt, underline supremacy as FIBA U18 Championship ends

After a successful conclusion of the 2016 FIBA-Africa U18 Men’s Basketball Championship in Kigali, three countries including Angola, Egypt and Mali qualified for the 2017 FIBA U19 World Championship to be held in Cairo, Egypt. Angola’s point guard Childe Dundao was the best when it came to accuracy in the free throws. (Courtesy) Angola edged Egypt 86-82 in over time to win their fourth continental youth flagship trophy on Sunday night at Amahoro Indoor Stadium, while Mali claimed third place after they beat Tunisia 59-52. Contemporary episodes remind us that a team that wins in the group phase usually tends to struggle when it matters most, but that was not the case. The Southern African nation affirmed their presence from the beginning in all the Group B games with a high efficiency mark until the end of the tournament. The victors were dominant throughout the tournament, winning all their eight games, including a 66-56 victory over Egypt at the group stage. At the individual level, Patrick Mwamba Kazumba (DR Congo) and Mohamed Adam Rassil (Tunisia) topped the progressive list of three-point leaders with 18 and 17 respectively. Angola was good when it came to points scored per game; they had 61.9%, which is 34.6% in the average 3-points field goals scored. Tunisia proved to be the best at shooting when it came to free throws; they finished with the tournament’s best 64.1%. Angola was second with 61.9% and Ivory Coast was the worst among the 11 participating teams with 47.8%. On the individual basis, Tunisia’s Mohamed Adam Rassil topped the chat when it came to accuracy in the free throws, scoring 50 points, taking into consideration all round and all positions. Egypt had the most rebounds in the tournament with 343 in total; Mali was second with 296 while host Rwanda had 238 in the sixth position. Because of his 6’9’ height, Egyptian centre player Ahmed Khalaf had the individual highest total number of rebounds 76 in the whole tournament. DRC’s Kazumba was the tournament’s highest points’ scorer with 160 points in eight games while Egypt and Angola topped the chat for the most assists. Uganda and Benin had the highest turnovers (lost possession) in the tournament with 149 and 145, and because of team work, Egypt made 124 assists-positive passing of the ball that turned into a score. Egyptian Moustafa Mohamed made more assists than any other player, 6.0 averages assists per every 40 minutes while his teammate, Mohamed OusamaYousseff, had 4.9. Algeria, Egypt and DR Congo committed most fouls in the whole tournament with 170, 171 and 190, respectively.The game between, Egypt and Benin had the most team-game high, 141-25 points in favour of Egypt, while Angola’s Bruno Afonso David Fernandes, scored the highest score of points 33 in the game against Benin, that ended 127-29. Debutants Uganda might have performed poorly after winning only two games; however, Mathew Samuel Ochienga went on record having registered the tournaments best points per game 60.9%, in addition to accumulating a double-digit number of totals in five statistical categories in six games. His teammate Ivan Muhwezi spent more minutes on the court than any other player; 209 in just six games—that is 34.9 minutes per game. Rwanda’s Cadeau Furaha was sixth with 248 minutes in eight games. The home team, on top of finishing 5th overall, also won the Fair play award. Rwanda’s point guard Sano Gasana was named the best team leader of the tournament, while Angola’s Silvio Sousa was crowned the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

Sports

Angola, Egypt, underline supremacy as FIBA U18 Championship ends