The 2022 FIBA National Youth Camp kicked off on Monday, 21st February at the Africa Bible University in Lubowa.

The camp is aimed at equipping youth coaches with skills to identify and nurture talent and also imparting game basics to young players.

Nour Amri, a FIBA Instructor, and Joe Touomou, the NBA Academy Technical Director and Fiba Expert are in charge of the training during the camp that brings together 20 coaches and 30 players.

The camp was launched by Ambrose Tashobya, the President of FIBA Africa Youth Council, and 3×3 Basketball.

“This program is intended to create a good base for youth development in Africa and this year, we are glad to partner with Key Instructors in the growth development of the game who will participate in the implementation of this program.

“We have two Instructors that have come in, one from FIBA and the other from the NBA who will equip the coaches and later on the kids with basic knowledge about the game,” he said at the launch.

The event was also attended by National Council of Sports General Secretary Bernard Ogwel, FUBA President Nasser Sserunjogi, as well as camp conductors in  Nour Amri and Joe Touomou.

“As a country, we have a program to develop players at the age of U14 through our Technical Directorate. We work with them for two years and prepare them for the U16 [Tournaments] at Zone V and AfroBasket.

“We realized that they reach this level (Zone V and AfroBasket) when not well prepared so we need to have such Youth Camps to develop them when they are still young. We believe that such programs will go a long way to prepare us to achieve,” said Sserunjogi.

At the end of the camp, the best 15 players will be selected for the Regional Camp and will be joined by the best performing coaches.

Namuwongo Blazers have revealed their roster as the 2022 National Basketball League nears the start.

The roster comprises four new signings in former Power captain Joseph Ikong, Amisi Saidi Danny, as well as Collins Kasujja, and Richard Ongom who join from KIU Titans and KCCA respectively.

Meanwhile, the club recently released five players – Geoffrey Soro, Chris Omanye, Emmanuel Okumu, Julius Lutwama, Francis Azolibe, and Stephen Otoa.

At the time last season was put on hold and later cancelled, the Blazers were 3rd (5-2). The side will be trying to challenge the status quo in their second season in top-flight when the season tips off on 11th March 2022.

Nam Blazers Roster

Paul Odong, Daniel Juuko, Amisi Saidi, David Deng, Daniel Monoja, Chuol Nyuot, Blair Valentine, Syrus Kiviiri, Joseph Ikong, Collins Kasujja, Richard Ongom, Kenneth Mesho

Our Saviour are the Division One champions! Our Savior edged Tropical Royals 68-67 in an entertaining Game 3 at Nakasero Primary School on Sunday to win this year’s Division One title.

By qualifying for the playoff finals, the two sides had already attained promotion to the National Basketball League (NBL).

In the finals series, Our Saviour won the series-opening game 65-60 but the Royals were level on Saturday thanks to a 73-67 win in Game 2 to force a decider.

In the winner take all game, Our Savior started stronger taking the opening quarter 22-12 but the Royals responded with a 23-15 second quarter.

It was a close affair the rest of the game until the final buzzer.

With the game tied 66-66 with about 30 seconds to play in the fourth quarter, Our Saviour’s Andrew Sendaula sent Tropical Royals’ Allan Nandala to the line and he netted one of his two free throws to hand the Royals a slender 67-66 lead.

Donald Bakara laid up at the opposite end with 20 seconds on the clock but missed the free thrown before Nandala missed a would-be game-winning 3-pointer as Our Saviour went into celebrations.

Moses Mugisha led the way for Our Savior with a 26 points and 12 rebounds double-double with Davis Asiimwe and Elton Dalton Bakama contributing 13 and 11 points respectively.

Nandala and Edgar Osiapie scored 16 and 14 points respectively for the Royals.

Tropical Royals earned promotion to the National Basketball League next season after completing the sweep of Kampala Rockets in the Division One playoff Semifinals on Sunday.

The Royals won game two of the series 64-55 at YMCA to follow the 76-59 game one win on Saturday at Nakasero.

Tropical Royals set the pace to lead 26-18 after the first quarter and never looked back on the largely disorganized Rockets.

Juma Osman led the way with 27 points, Joshua Duallo Joshua had 7 points and 10 rebounds for the Royals.

Kur Garang and Cyril Mpungu had 18 and 13 points respectively for Kampala Rockets.

Brian Rugyendo’s charges will face the winner between Rez Life Saints and Our Savior in the Playoff finals.

The Saints and Our Savior are tied on 1-1 following the latter’s spirited 66-62 win in overtime on Sunday.

The winner of Game 3 scheduled for Saturday will also get promoted to the NBL.

Division One Playoff Semifinals

Saturday

• Tropical Royals 76-59 Kampala Rockets
• Our Saviour 54-60 Rezlife

Sunday

• Kampala Rockets 55-64 Tropical Royals
• Rez Life Saints 62-66 Our Saviour (OT)

Arthur Kaluma was near perfect from the floor as Creighton men’s basketball team coasted to an 80-55 win over North Dakota State on Tuesday, November 30.

Kaluma started the game and played 21 minutes in the win lifted Creighton to 7-1 on the season, while North Dakota State fell to 4-3 overall.

The Bluejays of Creighton used their athleticism and defense to force eight Bison turnovers in the opening eight minutes.

Creighton’s offense proved equally impressive as nine different Bluejays scored as the side built a 20-12 edge midway through the opening half.

North Dakota State found its footing, trimming Creighton’s advantage to just 2 (27-25) with 4:37 play in the half. However, a pair of free throws from Ryan Kalkbrenner and two jumpers in the paint by freshman Ryan Nembhard delivered a quick response to push the lead back to eight (33-25) with 3:24 and the Bluejays maintained that lead into the break, taking a 40-32 edge into the locker room at the half.

With a 10-0 run to start the second half, the Bluejays never looked back.

Kalkbrenner’s 17 points led all scorers. Three other Bluejays reached double-figures with Ugandan power forward Kaluma finishing with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field and 1-of-1 from the line. Nembhard as well Alex O’Connell closed with 10  points each.

North Dakota State got a team-high 13 points from Dezmond McKinney in the loss, while Rocky Kreuser finished with 12 points.

Creighton returns to the floor on Saturday, 4th December as the Bluejays host No. 19 Iowa State at CHI Health Center Omaha.

Uganda’s silverbacks fell to D’Tigers of Nigeria in the last game of the first window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Qualifiers in Benguela, Angola.

The Silverbacks went into the clash on the back of a 77-74 win over Cape Verde the previous day.

Despite going neck to neck with the top-ranked D’Tigers early in the game, Nigeria started to pull away after the halfway mark of the second quarter and Uganda never recovered.

Veteran big man Ike Diogu played with a hot hand and troubled Uganda from the onset. Diogu shot 6-for-7 from deep, tallied game-high 27 points, and picked 10 rebounds. Keith Omoerah and Jordan Omotayo added 11 points each for Nigeria.

Despite creating many wide-open shots, Silverbacks connected on just 6 of their 40 three-point shots.

Brandon Davies had a team-high 22 points while Jimmy Enabu and Eric Rwahwire added 12 and 10 points respectively in a losing effort.

Uganda, now third in the group with 4 points, will seek to make amends in the second window in July next year at a yet to be confirmed venue.

The group remains wide open ahead of the second leg.

Group A Standings

1. Nigeria – 5pts
2. Mali – 5pts
3. Uganda – 4pts
4. Cape Verde – 4pts

Uganda put their Fiba Basketball World Cup qualifying campaign back on track with a 77-74 win over Cape Verde on Saturday night.

The Silverbacks were much improved from the way they played the first game against Mali a day earlier.

Head coach Mandy Juruni had shooting guard Robinson Opong available following his late arrival and delivered an important 17 points in the close game.

Brandon Davies, despite struggling from the line, led the way for Uganda with a game-high 27 points and 16 rebounds.

Both sides started the game slow but Cape Verde edged the opening quarter 14-12.

Despitte going down by as many as 10 points in the second quarter, Silverbacks recorvered and trailed by just a single points (32-31) at halftime.

The fourth quarter was a seesaw until Eric Rwahwire gave Uganda a lead for the first time in the game since the opening exchanges with a long three with about six minutes play.

Uganda picks its first win of the campaign having lost the opener to Mali and will look to end the first window on a high when they face Nigeria on Sunday night.

Uganda Men’s National basketball team, Silverbacks, return to action tonight and head coach Mandy Juruni wants the team to respond.

Uganda fell to Mali 76-66 on Friday in their opening game of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 African Qualifiers in Benguela, Angola.

The Silverbacks, despite being in the game throughout, were hard done by 27 turnovers before falling on the night.

“We came here to win the game, unfortunately, it did not happen. We have to look at the game and see how we can get better, learn from the loss and think about our next game,” said Head coach Mandy Juruni after the game.

“I thought Mali played aggressively and we failed to match up. They took the game away from us, we didn’t play our game and we made so many turnovers and I think it was a huge difference.

“I am not surprised he (Brandon) had a good game for us, he did what is expected of him, but definitely the other players have to step in, this is a team sport and it will not be easy for us if only one or two players show up. Everyone should step in and contribute.

“These Qualifiers are huge for us, we have been improving as a country and I feel we belong here at this stage.

“Most of the things we did not do well against Mali are correctable and if we get them right, we can be a better team. We are not looking at countries, we just have to concentrate on ourselves and I think we can compete with anyone.

“We are going to improve, we should just learn from this and get back stronger. You can see that the effort in there. Every possession is a battle at these games and we have to respect that but I believe that if we can fix a few errors, we can beat anyone.”

Uganda’s National Basketball team, Silverbacks, flew out in the wee hours of Thursday for the FIBA World Cup 2023 Africa Qualifiers’ first window in Benguela, Angola.

The Silverbacks make the trip after a late-late intervention from the government after the basketball federation head Nasser Sserunjogi held a meeting with the State Minister for Sports Hamson Obua on Tuesday.

Earlier on Tuesday, FUBA had released a statement saying the team will not be travelling having failed to secure funds for the trip.

Uganda is pitted in a Pool alongside Nigeria, Mali, and Cape Verde. The Silverbacks will face Mali in their first game on 26th November, then take on Cape Verde and Nigeria on 27th and 28th November respectively.

Travelling Contingent

Players: Jimmy Enabu (City Oilers), Tonny Drilleba (City Oilers), Ivan Muhwezi (City Oilers), Fayed Bbale (UCU Canons), Peter Obleng (KIU Titans), Titus Lual Odeke (UCU Canons), James Okello (City Oilers), Abdihakim Ghedi (City Oilers), Ben Komakech (City Oilers), Brandon Davis (Barcelona, Germany), Eric Rwahwire (Hamilton Honey Badgers), Womala Timothy Emmanuel (Schwelm, Germany), Robinson Opong Odoch (unattached)

Officials: Arnold Katabi (Head of Delegation), Mandy Juruni Lutwama (Head coach), Andrew Tendo Ssenyondwa (Assistant Coach), Ram Nyakana Mpunga (Team Physio), Isaac Otuk Gabriel (Team Doctor)

The Federation of Uganda Basketball Associations (FUBA) has confirmed that Uganda’s senior men’s national team (Silverbacks) will not compete at the upcoming first window of the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers.

Lack of funds was cited as the reason for not travelling to Angola’s western city of Benguela for the November 26-28 event.

“The Federation of Uganda Basketball Association (FUBA) on a very sad note wishes to inform you that the Senior Men’s National Basketball team (the Silverbacks) will not compete at the FIBA World cup qualifiers window 1 in Benguela (Angola) from 26th to 28th of November 2021,” FUBA President Nasser Sserunjogi said in a statement.

“FUBA was informed Government of Uganda through National Council of Sports (NCS) that there was no money to support the team for this particular campaign. The team needed approximately 380 million to make the trip.”

It should be noted that the team put up a splendid performance at the AfroBasket finals in Kigali (Rwanda) recently where they made the quarterfinals, before finishing No. 6 overall.

The Silverbacks had already embarked on preps for the window and have been training at the African Bible College in Lubowa.