Uganda’s U16 boys national basketball team, the Junior Silverbacks, have seen their title race at the 2025 FIBA U16 AfroBasket in Kigali come to an end after a narrow 53-50 defeat to Cameroon in Friday’s quarterfinal at Petit Stade.
The loss ended Uganda’s first-ever run to the knockout stages, achieved after edging through the group phase with a superior point differential, and the team will now settle for classification games.
The Junior Silverbacks had earlier lost to Cameroon 57-50 in the group stage, but Friday’s meeting was far closer.
Cameroon started strong, edging the first quarter 17-14 and stretching their advantage to 30-20 at halftime.
Uganda responded with a spirited third quarter, outscoring the West Africans 14-12 to close the gap to 41-36 heading into the final period.
The Junior Silverbacks pushed hard but could not overturn the deficit, with Cameroon holding on for a second victory over Uganda in the tournament.
Uganda’s Shane Kwizera led scoring with 19 points, while Evans Shyaka added 9. For Cameroon, Nolan Ngangmeni dropped 16 points and Olivier Ngoumou contributed 11.
Despite not progressing to the semi-finals, Uganda will leave Kigali with a historic quarterfinal appearance, earned after edging out Morocco on point differential following Liberia’s surprise win.
