The Ugandan senior men’s national basketball team staged a magnificent fourth-quarter comeback to edge out rivals Rwanda 68-65 in a high-octane friendly match, leaving head coach Mandy Juruni highly optimistic about the team’s upward trajectory.
Despite a sluggish start that saw Uganda trailing for the majority of the game, a masterclass final-quarter surge flipped the script.
The Silverbacks were staring down an 11-point deficit at halftime (29-40) and still trailed by 7 points heading into the final period. However, a defensive lock and a clinical 23-13 run in the fourth quarter sealed a hard-fought three-point victory.
Speaking after the game, Coach Juruni expressed immense satisfaction with the team’s growth, while maintaining a grounded perspective on the journey ahead.
“I’m pleased to see a lot of progress right from the start,” Juruni noted. “I’m happy with the work that we are putting in and we still have a lot of work to do. I really believe that we can just keep getting better. We can improve as a team.”
Juruni emphasised that these warm-up games are serving their exact purpose: exposing gaps that need plugging before official tournament action begins.
“The more we play together, the more we identify our weaknesses. We still have a lot more days to prepare as a team, so I’m optimistic that we will even be better.”
