Rwanda handed N. African opponents at Afro-basket

Group A: Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Senegal, and Algeria Group B: Rwanda, Tunisia, Morocco and Burkina Faso Group C: Angola, Central Africa, Mozambique and Cape Verde Group D: Nigeria, Cameroon, Congo and MaliTHE national men’s basketball team has been drawn against North African sides for this year’s Afro-basket competition which will e held in Ivory Coast in August.Rwanda is in Group C alongside defending champions Tunisia, Morocco and debutants Burkina Faso. The draws were held in the Ivorian capital Abidjan on Saturday.Rwanda will open their campaign against Burkina Faso on August 21; face Morocco two days later before winding up the group stage against Tunisia on August 25.Rwanda, the only East African nation to ever play in the competition, made a historic debut in 2007 in Angola where they finished 12th. This year, they will be making a fourth consecutive time the continent’s biggest basketball tournament.In the last edition held in 2011 in Madagascar, Rwanda finished 12th while her opponents Morocco finished in sixth position. Tunisia beat Angola 67-57 to lift the title, which qualified them to represent Africa at he London Olympic Games.In January, Rwanda was granted passage to participate in the championships by the FIBA-Africa Executive Committee following their impressive performance at the Zone 5 qualifiers in Tanzania, which Egypt won.Rwanda, ranked 67th in the world and 13th in Africa, reached the final only to be denied the title by the Egyptians following a 82-76 victory. The Nations Cup tournament is also the qualifier for 2014 World Cup in Spain.

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Rwanda handed N. African opponents at Afro-basket