Uganda’s Junior Silverbacks saw their fairytale run at the 2025 FIBA U16 AfroBasket end in heartbreaking fashion after a narrow 53-50 quarterfinal defeat to Cameroon on Friday evening at Petit Stade.
In what was a historic debut appearance in the knockout stages, Uganda went down fighting, showing heart and grit against one of the continent’s youth basketball powerhouses.
The young Silverbacks had punched their ticket to the last eight after edging Morocco on point difference in the group phase — a milestone achievement that has already written their names in the country’s basketball history books.
Facing Cameroon for the second time in the tournament after a 57-50 loss earlier in the group stage, Uganda turned up with renewed hunger and nearly pulled off an upset.
The West Africans led 17-14 after the first quarter and extended their cushion to 30-20 at halftime. But Uganda roared back in the third, slicing the deficit to just five points (41-36) and setting up a tense final stretch.
Shane Kwizera once again carried Uganda’s scoring load with a dazzling 19 points, while Evans Shyaka chipped in with 9. Cameroon’s balanced attack was led by Nolan Ngangmeni with 16 and Olivier Ngoumou with 11.
