U18 Afrobasket Qualifiers: Rwanda Coach Aware Of Uganda’s Threa
Wednesday, June 15
Girls: Uganda 64-36 Tanzania
Boys: Rwanda 73-57 Tanzania
Thursday, June 16
Girls: Tanzania Vs Rwanda – 4pm
Boys: Rwanda Vs Uganda – 7pm
Rwanda U18 National Boys team coach Yves Murenzi says that they have to be very cautious ahead of their second meeting with Junior Silverbacks on Thursday.
Rwanda beat Uganda 59-38 in Monday’s opener of the ongoing 2022 FIBA U18 Afrobasket Zone V Qualifiers at the Indoor Arena in Lugogo.
“The way we beat them, that’s the same way they can beat us, we need to come with more focus and much energy because Ugandans can fight, we need to be ready and don’t rush on offense,” Yves told The-SportsNation in an exclusive interview.
Rwanda have won two from as many games, after beating Tanzania 73-57 on Wednesday.
Against Uganda, they will be welcoming back Dick Rutatika Sano who missed the TZ win due to an injury.
“He (Rutatika) got injured in practice, and the doctors advised us to rest him for Tanzania game so that he can play against Uganda,” Yves added.
Rwanda had two players test positive prior to their opener with Uganda, including Mike Mugalu.
“One of the two players returned a negative test but then the other one is still in hospital being attended by two of our members on the delegation.”
Hubert Sage Kwizera scored 20 points, Ghislain Nubaha had 12 while Brillant Brave Izere Rutsindura contributed a double double of 13 points and 18 rebounds against TZ.
“The tournament has not been easy for us as it may seem, every team is tough and ready to compete,” Yves explained.
“Tanzania were very aggressive and defensive, and it was not easy for us to score but I thank our players for listening to the instructions we gave them and we have got this win.”
Rwanda will once again be a hard nut to crack for Uganda because of their big size and its work cut out for the Junior Silverbacks who turned the ball 38 times and shot 16% from the field in the first meet.
Uganda have won once in two games and another loss on Thursday will all but end their hopes of qualifying to the FIBA U18 Afrobasket finals in Madagascar.
