RWANDA’S MEN’S basketball team booked a semifinal slot in the ongoing 2013 Fiba Africa Zone V Afro-basket championship with an impressive 70-56 victory over hosts Tanzania, yesterday, in Dar es Salaam.Kenny Gasana scored 28 points while Bradley Cameroon added another 24 points and made six assists to emerge as the game’s MVP. Rwanda will be joined by either Uganda or Egypt who were in action by press time. The team has five points in three matches played so far. Egypt is second with four while Uganda has three points.The Rwandan side will face the best ranked team in Group B which is likely to be Kenya as it sits on top of the standings with three points but might be dethroned off the spot if rivals Somalia beat Burundi in the final group match which will be played today.Kenya has three points, one ahead of Somalia, while Burundi is placed bottom with one point.In the women category, the women basketball team failed to maintain their perfect start to the championship after a disappointing 49-71 loss to favourites Kenya yesterday.The women side lost under searing heat and humid Dar es Salaam temperatures with Angola based player Tierra Henderson scoring 24 points though they were not enough to match Kenya’s skipper Hilda Indas, who snatched 34 points to guide Kenya to third consecutive victory.Kenya maintain lead at the top of the women standings with eight points, while Rwanda remain on second position with three points respectively.Rwanda beat hosts Tanzania 66-35 in the opening match whereas Kenya convincingly defeated Burundi 86-44 in their second match after a 74-32 win over Tanzania in their first match.Rwanda face Burundi today, while Uganda will take on Kenya later in the afternoon.The women’s qualifier is being played on a round robin format with the top two teams qualifying to the African tournament.The African Nations Cup will be held in DRC in August 2013.
