2021 AfroBasket
Nigeria vs Uganda
Kigali Arena, Rwanda
Tuesday, 31-08-2021 @4pm
The Uganda Men’s national Basketball team, Silverbacks, will return to action on Tuesday afternoon against Nigeria in the second round of the 2021 AfroBasket championships.
Uganda who are still not sure whether they will be allowed to play the game due to unpaid dues, finished 3rd in group D.
They lost to both Senegal and South Sudan with those defeats coming either side of a victory against Cameroon.
Ahead of the Nigeria game, Silverbacks head coach George Galanopoulos is confident his side will bounce back from Sunday’s 86-88 loss to South Sudan.
“We bounced back from a 38-point loss to Senegal and we turned it into a win against Cameroon. Galanopoulos said.
“This team responds well to adversity and I think thankfully, we still have an opportunity to play and qualify for the quarter finals. We are going to play a very worthy opponent and it is not going to get any easier.”
Against Nigeria, Uganda comes up against a side that came to the tournament as one of the favourites.
The D-Tigers are taking part in their 19th edition of the competition as compared to Uganda’s three appearances.
Their last two campaigns have seen them perform exceptionally well. They beat Angola in the final in 2015 to win their first and only crown before losing to Tunisia in the final in 2017.
To reach the second round of the current edition, Nigeria finished second in group C off a 2-1 record.
The only time the two sides have met at the AfroBasket was back in 2015 at the group stage with Nigeria winning 98-59.
