Basketball in Africa

Rwanda Basketball Federation (Ferwaba) plans to organise more local competitions including the 'Never Again' in a bid to improve the standards of the sport in the country.
According to the federation Secretary General Richard Mutabazi, the more competitions they organise throughout the country, the more the sport becomes popular, which leads to the rise in players' competitiveness.
"I believe if we have more quality competitions, it will raise the level of competitiveness for the players as the more games they play the stronger they will become and in the end, it will help the national team," he said.
Mutabazi made the remarks on Saturday following the climax of the national league season where Espoir were crowned champions of both the regular season and the playoff final.
The annual 'Never Again' tournament is organised to commemorate the basketball players, coaches, officials and fans, who perished during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsis.
"We have not yet confirmed the dates, but we are planning to have it immediately after the commemoration period," Mutabazi said. The national remembrance period falls in the first week of April.
The season started with the 'Agaciro Development Fund' tournament, which was followed with national league, the Playoffs and 'Never Again' tourney will be the fourth competition.
Meanwhile, APR women are one game away from wrapping up the playoff final whitewash after beating Ubumwe 58-41 in Game Two on Sunday to lead the best of five series 2-0.
The reigning league champions won Game One 54-41 on Saturday. Game Three is scheduled to be played on Saturday.