The Silverbacks of Uganda painfully fell to an 87-78 loss to Cape Verde in the FIBA World Cup qualifiers on Saturday in Kigali, Rwanda.
The beasts from East Africa matched Cape Verde stride for stride for nearly the entire first half which ended 44-43 in the latter’s favour.
However, coach George Galanopoulos’ side somehow did not show up in the third quarter, losing it 18-9, and as such, giving their opponents a huge advantage.
The Silverbacks, then fought back into the contest with a 17-0 run in the fourth quarter to tie the game before Cape Verde pulled away again to win by a nine point difference.
Phoenix Suns’ Ismael Wainright had 21 points, Arthur Kaluma (18), Deng Geu (12) and Robinson Opong (11) with the quadrant managing double figures.
For Cape Verde, Walter Tavares shot 8-for-8 to collect 21 points, William Tavares led with 22 while Joel Almeida added 14 points for the victors.
Cape Verde progress with two wins from as many in this window, having beaten Nigeria earlier on Friday.
Despite the loss, Uganda progressed to the Second Round after Mali forfeited the match against Nigeria, to have them out of the qualifiers.
Courtesy Photos
