BY JULIUS MBARAGA
2009 Afrobasket-Libya
Round of eight
Monday
Rwanda 64-85 CAR
First quarter -15-22
Second quarter -16-16
Third quarter -13-32
Fourth quarter -20-15
Sunday
Senegal 59-72 Rwanda
Today
Cameroon v Rwanda
Rwanda’s inconsistence at the ongoing FIBA Africa Championship for Men once again proved their major undoing after they lost 85-64 to Central Africa Republic last evening just 24 hours after shocking Senegal 72-59.
Central Africa belittles Rwanda.
Kavedzija Vaceslav’s team narrowed down their chances of qualifying for the 2009 after yesterday’s defeat against Central African Republic (CAR) much to the dismay of the local crowd, who were expecting a replica performance to that of the Senegal game.
The team failed to click right from the first quarter and often, it was clear that fatigue had finally crept in.
It was a forgettable evening for Rwanda, who had two players (Mike Buzangu and Robert Thomson) fouled out.
CAR’s star player Romain Sato scored a game high 30 points.
The small forward averaged a healthy 20points heading into yesterday‘s game. Thomson emerged as Rwanda’s top scorer with 13 points.
The defeat left Vaceslav’s boys in a difficult position since they now have to win tonight’s game against Cameroon and hope that CAR and Morocco lose before they can start dreaming of a slot in the quarter-finals.
Elsewhere, Angola stormed to their fifth successive win of the tournament after beating Ivory Coast 88-61. The win means that Angola is now through to the quarter-finals and very much on course for a record tenth title.
On Sunday, Rwanda pulled off a shock victory over one of the pre-tournament favourites Senegal.
After a first quarter tie (16-16), Rwanda broke loose in the second quarter 18-07 to head into the break with an 11points advantage (34-23).
Boniface N’dong tried to power the Senegalese side back into contention with a 21-18 third quarter lead but it was Rwanda who emerged victorious after winning the last quarter 20-15 for a cumulative score-line of 72-59 to signal a warning to the other so called pre-tournament favourites (Cameroon, Angola and Egypt).
Kenny Gasana led Rwanda’s scoring wheels with 18 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.
Robert Thomson added 16 points and 8 rebounds while Mathew Miller contributed 14 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds.
N’dong top scored for the Senegalese lions with a game high 21 points.