Results (Final)
Tunisia 54-67 Egypt
3rd place play-off
Mali 72-56 Mozambique
5th place play-off
Rwanda 71-73 Gabon
7th place play-off
Angola 65-59 Algeria
DEFENDING Champions Egypt retained their crown after winning this year’s Afrobasket U-18 Kagame Cup. The North Africans did it in style as they beat arch-rivals Tunisia 67-54 in yesterday’s final.
Tunisia got off to a good start winning the first quarter 17-15 but Egypt rallied back with a 14-9 second quarter win to head into the half-time break with a three-point lead.
The Tunisians swept the third quarter 17-13 to temporarily give themselves hope of snatching the title away from their rivals.
However, it was not to be as Egypt showed qualities of a true champion with a breathtaking fourth quarter (25-11) display to comfortably retain the title.
Their fourth quarter charge was masterminded by center Aly Mohammad who went on to score a game high 30 points.
Rwanda finished a distant 6th after losing out to Gabon 71-73 in the 5th place play-off match but still had something to cheer about after Lionel Hakizimana scooped the tournament’s top scorer accolade.
The shooting guard was by far Rwanda’s most outstanding player in the nine-day event were the hosts endured a mixed display.
On three occasions, the team’s immaturity let the home crowd down as they let comfortable leads slip away.