Basketball: South Sudan loses to Cape Verde, misses out on a place in the Afrobasket Championship
The Bright Stars of South Sudan trailed 85 – 91 points against the Islanders of Cape Verde Friday in the ongoing FIBA Afrobasket Qualifiers 2021 in Yaounde, Cameroon.
The AfroBasket 2021 Qualification determines which African national basketball teams will qualify for the 2021 FIBA Africa Championship.
South Sudan’s lose to Cape Verde at the three-nation FIBA AfroBasket 2021 Qualifiers Invitational Tournament means they will miss the chance to feature in the tournament hosted next year by a fellow East African member state, Rwanda.
Cape Verde had already secured their first win against Chad on Thursday.
South Sudan’s forward Ngor Kuany was in fine form drilling 16 points to maintain suspense in the game.
The 26-year-old netted a team high 19 points with the bench contributing 32 points. Despite out-rebounding Cape Verde, South Sudan’s late rejuvenation at the end of fourth quarter was in vain with the Islanders clinching a 91-85 win.
South Sudan were left gnashing their teeth after a late revival proved inefficient but coach Ajou Deng said; “We are a young nation, and this is our second tournament. I’m happy with what my players showed today.”
“Cape Verde played some great defense and we lost focus at some point in the game but these things happen.” Deng added.
“We show up at every game to win. We want to show to the world the sort of basketball we are capable of playing,” he said referring to next match against Chad.
“Ending this tournament with a win will be a good thing for future generations. The future is bright for us and we just need to keep working hard to get beyond this stage next time.” Deng said.
Cape Verde’s deputy coach Danielson Miranda said South Sudan proved the more resilient side capping of the first quarter with a 22-16 lead.
The second quarter was a back and forth tale as Fidel Mendoca and Anderson Correira both churned in 24 points while Sekouba Conde climbed from the bench to nail 11 points and 6 rebounds to ensure Cape Verde walked into the dugout with a 48-46 domination by the end of the second quarter.
Sekouba Conde orchestrated Cape Verde’s offense, dominating both ends of the court with 24 points and 11 rebounds. His four defensive rebounds cooled off South Sudan’s verve to tie the game.
“We’ve been fighting to return to this stage of African basketball,” Cape Verde point guard Fidel Mendonca told FIBA.basketball. “We came here to fight, and we had a very good game. It’s a really good thing that we can make it to the Qualifiers of the AfroBasket.
“South Sudan should be proud of themselves. They are a young team but played a great game today and I think it was a close one.
“Our experience was helpful against a very good South Sudanese team. They were very physical, but we were able to contain them.” He added.
South Sudan and Chad will clash on Saturday in the last game of the three-nation FIBA AfroBasket 2021 Qualifiers Invitational Tournament as Cape Verde advance to the Qualifiers where they will be facing Egypt, Morocco and Uganda in Group E in November in Alexandria, Egypt.
Part of this article, including all interviews and the Featured image is courtesy of FIBA
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