Forward Ishmail Wainright and Shooting Guard Adam Seiko produced an outstanding show as Uganda beat Cameroon 80-66 on Friday at the 2021 FIBA Afrobasket in Kigali, Rwanda.
The win resurrects Uganda’s chances at the ongoing tourney after a 93-55 loss against Senegal on Wednesday.
It was an improved performance for Uganda who shared and moved the ball a lot bit quicker and defended tirelessly.
The Silverbacks who led right from the start, had an efficient output and absolutely dominant stretches of play despite turning over the ball 22 times.
Seiko scored 18 of his 20 points in the first three quarters on 6-of-9 shooting on his second debut after the San Diego State Aztecs guard drilled in 12 against Senegal.
Wainright, newly recruited at NBA side Toronto Raptors, scored a near-tripple-double of 9 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists.
Coach Galanopoulos will be happy with the general performance after getting the best out of each player; Robinson Opong contributed 15 points, John Deng Geu and Arthur Kaluma added 14 and 12 each.
The Silverbacks got out of the blocks to lead 27-22 in the first quarter and extended the advantage to 10 points at the long break.
The team took a 14-point lead into the last quarter before holding on for their first win at the event.
Its the second win for Uganda at Afrobasket ever. They beat Zimbabwe 72-62 in classification games in 2015 Afrobasket.
Uganda face South Sudan on Sunday in the last group game as they pursue a place in the knockout.
DJ Strawberry led the way for Cameroon with 17 points while Kenneth Kaidji added 11 points in a game the side failed to get anything going at either end of the floor.
It was an uncharacteristic show for Cameroon who lost their would be opener against South Sudan by forfeiture after the side registered five Covid19 positive cases.
Cameroon, who were runners up in 2007, face an uphill task to qualify out of the group as they face Senegal in the last game this Sunday.
The winners of each group qualify automatically to the Quarter-Finals while the teams that finish second and third will compete for the remaining four spots in the Last Eight. The bottom team in each group will be eliminated.
