FIBA Africa World Cup Qualifiers 

Group A results

Cape Verde 88 Uganda 78

Nigeria 20 Mali 00

Ishmail Wainwright grabbed a team-high 21 points and Arthur Kaluma added 18 before both fouling in the fourth quarter as the Uganda Silverbacks fell to a hard-fought 88-78 defeat against Cape Verde in Group A of the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers today in Kigali.

Uganda rallied from a 21-point deficit with just 4:16 to play in the fourth quarter to make it a three-point game with 33 seconds left. And had Deng Geu, who finished with 12 points, completed the three-point play, the deficit would have been slashed to two.

He didn’t, and Cape Verde went on to make the game safe by scoring seven more points as Uganda missed two open three-point attempts.

The Silverbacks will be proud of their enormous fight back, and rightly so, but the appraisal will reveal the 19 turnovers, which translated to 27 points for Cape Verde, did incredible damage. Uganda’s third quarter was particularly unmemorable. The Silverbacks lost it 18-9, with Kaluma sitting out most of it after picking up his fourth foul early in the frame.

A blow-out was on the cards, and when Walter Tavares (game-high 24 points) made it 81-59 with just over four minutes left in fourth quarter, the Silverbacks looked dead and buried.

But they were not. Or at least not at that point. 

The defeat puts a dent in Uganda’s chances of making the final five teams that will progress to the World Cup but at least the Silverbacks will be in the ultimate qualification mix, thanks to the refusal of Mali players to honour their fixtures in this window.

Tomorrow’s clash between Nigeria and Uganda will determine who finishes in second place behind group leaders Cape Verde.