The Silverbacks are back in business at the ongoing 2025 FIBA Afrobasket qualifiers following their impressive 72-62 win over Nigeria on Saturday in Monastir, Tunisia.
After losing to Cape Verde in the first game, Uganda needed to make amends and so they did convincingly led by Robinson Odoch Opong whose double double of 39 points and 10 inspired Uganda to the win.
Timothy Womala, Adam Seiko and Brandon Ssebirumbi each added nine, seven and six points respectively while Titus Odeke also had six points on the day.
Mandy Juruni’s charges were dominant all through, winning three of the four quarters 12-8,17-12, 26-25 before falling short in the final quarter which they lost by a point (17-18).
For Mandy Juruni, the win came in handy.
“It’s been a big game for us and getting into the winning column is a relief, definitely the pressure was on us to bounce back from Friday’s loss, we improved on alot from the previous game and I want to commend the team,” Juruni stated
“Putting in that effort and having the mindset to do better enabled us to win, we stepped it up in the third quarter and it helped.”
Opong noted that the win was vital for the side as each victory is vital in the qualifier.
“This is an extremely important win for us, any win you get you move closer to Afrobasket 2025, in first game we struggled in certain areas but we made amends today, we tried not to over think staff,” He noted.
“We now have to plan for the next game, hopefully we come out on top.”
The Silverbacks next face Libya on Sunday with tipoff slated for 4 PM, Ugandan time.
