KIGALI, Rwanda – UT Arlington's Patrick Mwamba is representing his native Democratic Republic of Congo beginning this week at the FIBA AfroBasket 2021.
 
Mwamba, who was raised in Bukavu in eastern Congo, earned a spot on the national team to compete in the African Championships which are contested once every four years.
 
The DR of Congo opened its tournament today, Tuesday, against Rwanda – its first of three qualifying games this week in Group A, which is comprised of four teams: Congo, Rwanda, Angola and Cape Verde. Mwamba started the game against Rwanda, scoring 10 points and grabbing six rebounds in 22 minutes of action in an 82-68 setback.
 
Congo will also play Cape Verde on Thursday, Aug. 26, at 8 a.m. Central and Angola on Saturday, Aug. 28, again at 8 a.m. to conclude Group Phase competition.
 
There are 16 teams in total, broken into groups of four. The winner of each group (A, B, C, D) will automatically advance to the quarterfinals, while the teams that finish 2nd and 3rd in the group will compete for the remaining four spots in the Last Eight. The teams that finish last in their group are eliminated.
 
Group Phase play continues until Sunday, Aug. 29. The four qualifying games for the Last Eight take place on Aug. 30 and 31, with quarterfinals games to be contested on Sept. 1 and 2. Following a rest day on Sept. 3, the semifinals are set to be played on Sept. 4, with the consolation game and final on Sunday, Sept. 5. All games will be played at Kigali Arena in the host country of Rwanda.
 
More information, and to follow along with each game, visit fiba.basketball/afrobasket.
 
Mwamba started 22 games for UTA last year as a redshirt sophomore, averaging 6.9 points and 4.7 rebounds per contest. He reached double-figure points nine times, including five of the final eight outings of the year. The 6-7 forward tallied a career-high 19 points and a career-high-tying 12 rebounds against ULM on Feb. 6 as part of his second double-double of the season.
 
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