John Deng Geu was the star performer for the Silverbacks in their final game of the Afrobasket qualifiers as they fell to the hosts Libya, 69-66.

Deng was a force offensively and defensively and his presence on the court was felt by the opponents.

He finished with a game-high 25 points, 10/19, 52% FG, 2/4, 50% 3P, and 8 rebounds.

In the fourth quarter, he scored on all his attempts and finished with 9 points.

Uganda came into this game with the news that they had already qualified regardless of the result in this game.

They led after the first quarter 21-20 but Libya took over in the second.

They outscored Uganda 24-11 to establish a 12-point lead at halftime.

Uganda had their moments in the third quarter, upped their defense and limited Libya to just 9 points.

They cut the deficit to 5 points with the final 10 minutes left.

It was a back-and-forth fourth quarter but at last, Uganda took a 1-point lead with 90 seconds left in the game.

However, Jonathan Komagum missed 2 crucial free throws which would have increased the Silverbacks lead.

Libya scored 4 points late in the game to seal the victory for them.

Player Stats

Deng John Geu 25 pts, 8 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk

Jonathan Komagum 13 reb, 8 pts, 3 ast, 4 stl, 3 blk

Ishmail Wainwright 8 pts, 4 reb, 8 ast, 1 blk

Robinson Opong 9 pts, 3 reb

Uganda qualified for the Afrobasket as the best 4th-placed team.