Basketball: Silverbacks' World Cup dreams shattered by Nigeria
The Uganda National Basketball team - the Silverbacks dreams of qualifying for the FIBA 2019 World Cup in China were all but shattered following a 92-79 defeat by Rwanda on Sunday, in Lagos, Nigeria.
The loss ensured that out of the six games Uganda played in group B, bowed out without even registering a single victory to their name.
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While going to their game six against Rwanda, the Silverbacks started quite brightly but still failed to take the lead of the first and second quarter thus going into the halftime break on 43-40 backpedal.
Returning after the intermission, Uganda's energies on both offence and defence spectacularly melted as Rwanda sped to a 28-17 lead, clinching the third period on a 71-58 cushion.
Then in the final period, Robinson Odoch who scored a team-high 18 points rallied his charges the Silverbacks to a 22-21 win of the quarter which was too little as the damage was already inflicted.
How the Silverbacks fared in the FIBA World Cup 2019 Qualifiers
Second round
Uganda 66-109 Nigeria
Uganda 80-95 Mali
Uganda 79-92 Rwanda
First round
Uganda 86-102 Nigeria
Uganda 76-79 Mali
Uganda 63-79 Rwanda
