AfroCan Zone 5 Qualifiers Re-Cap

After a week of back-to-back games at the FIBA AfroCan 2023 Zone 5 Qualifiers, Rwanda (1st place) will represent Zone 5 at AfroCan 2023, while Burundi landed in second place and South Sudan finished third.

The race for a spot at AfroCan 2023 began one week ago where East African nations Rwanda, Tanzania, South Sudan and Burundi, joined by Eritrea battled it out in Dar EsSalam, Tanzania.

The Bright Stars were defeated by Burundi in their first game by 15 points. South Sudan fought for 40 minutes in its second match, but ultimately succumbed to Rwanda's pressure by 17 points.

While South Sudan got off to a rocky start, the AfroCan team of players based on the African continent upped the tempo with consecutive wins against Eritrea and Tanzania in their last two games.

The team finished the tournament in 3rd place with a 24 points win against host Tanzania. Team Captain Koch Bar earned two individual awards for Best Center and Best Rebounder.

“This is the start of improving basketball at home. There is a plan for why we are here. We always want to win because we are winners but development takes time”

- Luol Deng

The FIBA AfroCan is a new competition of national teams for players on the African continent. An opportunity to prepare, develop and improve home-based players for the future of Basketball in South Sudan.