AfroBasket – Morocco roll into Quarter-Finals, three others follow
ABIDJAN (AfroBasket/FIBA Basketball World Cup) – The race for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup became closer for four teams on Monday as they qualified for the AfroBasket 2013 Quarter-Finals.
On Tuesday, eight other teams will compete for the remaining four Quarter-Final places.
On Monday, Morocco‘s Mustapha Kalfi upset Algeriaas he came up with a rescuing three-pointer with 26 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 72 and ultimately send it to overtime.
The Moroccans outscored their opponents 14-9 in the extra five minutes to register an 86-81 win and advance to the Quarter-Finals.
Algeria’s Mohamed Harat maintained a high-class performance with a game-high 25 points, but just as his teammate Mehdi Cheriet did, he fouled out.
In the second of Monday’s four Eighth-Finals match-ups, Mozambique turned the ball over 28 times allowing Cameroon to run away with a 75-42 win. Even Mozambique’s assistant coach, Jose Delfino, admitted they could never win the game when they play sloppy.
Cameroon secured their fourth consecutive Quarter-Final appearance at the AfroBasket.
Tournament hosts Cote d’Ivoire needed to wait until the last minute of the first quarter to take the lead of the game (17-15) against AfroBasket debutantBurkina Faso and they soon had complete control of the game as they raced to a 100-60 victory.
The home side became the second team, afterTunisia, to reach the century mark in the tournament.
Souleymane Diabate handed out a game-high six assists to go with 16 points, and was clearly a fan favourite especially because of his countless crossovers and easy shooting ability.
Burkina Faso, paced by the exuberant Joris Bado, played their best game of the tournament, but with key players Kader Tapsoba, Moussa Ouattara andMamadou Savadogo fouling out, any attempt to come back in the game became fruitless.
In the final game of the day, Angola registered their biggest winning margin of the tournament so far in beating Mali 82-36. Angolan Member of ParliamentCarlos Almeida had a team-high 14 points.
Tuesday will see the remaining Eighth-Finals contests take place. Tunisia take on Egypt, followed by Cape Verde going up against Republic of Congo (CGO). Senegal then square off against Rwandabefore Nigeria
On Wednesday, Angola will take on Morocco and Cote d’Ivoire go toe to toe with Cameroon in the first two Quarter-Finals.
For full and in-depth coverage of AfroBasket 2013, go to the official websitehttp://abidjan2013.
FIBA
