BOITUMELO RANTAO
AFRICAN basketball championship (Afrobasket) qualifiers concluded their proceedings in Monastir, Tunisia with multiple teams including Nigeria, Mali, and first-time qualifiers South Sudan qualifying for the finals tournament in Kigali, Rwanda.
Basketball’s eyes shifted to Yaounde, Cameroon as five-time champions Senegal continued their unbeaten run stamping their authority with a 69-51 victory over Kenya.
Group B participants Kenya, under the guidance of the first-ever female head coach in a major continental competition, Liz Mills, impressed. They improved from the blowout loss against Senegal in the first Afrobasket qualifying window to a slim loss..
Elsewhere in group B Angola defeated Mozambique 91-68. Angola sit second in group B behind Senegal with their only loss coming against the table leaders in the first qualifying window.
Action in Yaounde additionally saw Côte D’Ivoire conquer Guinea 87- 73 in the group C affair. Deon Thompson top scored for the Ivorians with 14 points, chipping in 5 rebounds to go with his points haul.
Group A featured a tight 69-68 win for the Democratic Republic of Congo over the Central African Republic.
