Guinea stuns Rwanda to eliminate the hosts from 2021 AfroBasket in a thrilling game of Quarterfinal playoffs that saw Syli National overcome the 10 points deficit in the fourth quarter.
Rwanda led by 2 points in the opening quarter of the game, 15-13 but Guinea snuffed out the deficit before the second quarter ended. The Syli led by just one, 31-30, at the break.
The third quarter was dominated by the hosts as the crowd support was immense. Kenneth Gasana’s 13 points in the third quarter helped Rwanda take the 10 points lead before the final quarter, 24-13 to make it 54-44.
Guinea, through captain Cedric Mansaré, displayed an outstanding performance in the last quarter to thrash Rwanda and end their hopes of progressing in the quarter-final for the first time in history. They come from ten points down in the third quarter to end the game with four points difference. 72-68
Rwanda had more than enough chances to win it however, some poor shot selections in the last quarter cost them the game.
On the other side, It was a historic day in Guinea Basketball as they reached Quarterfinal for the first time since 1962. The Syli achieved this exciting milestone after beating Egypt in the last group stage game and upset Rwanda in last night’s quarter-final playoffs game. They have a mountain to climb in the quarter-final as they face off their neighbor Côte d’Ivoire.
Cedric Mansaré scored a team-high 16 points while Rwanda’s Kenneth Gasana dropped the game and tournament-high 28 points.
This was the fifth AfroBasket for Kenneth Gasana since he represented Rwanda for the first time in 2009. Kenneth had been one of Rwanda top scorers through previous editions of AfroBasket too
Rwanda’s 2021 AfroBasket journey goes to end
