Another day of Afrobasket, another game not for the faint of heart. In a thrilling match, to say the least, the Mali national team secured a victory over Guinea by a mere three points (70-67) and secured their place in the next stage of the competition for the first time in over a decade.
In a match played at the Kilamba Pavilion in Luanda, the Malians came out on top and held the lead for almost the entire match, until late in the third period, thanks to a rigorous defense, Guinea managed to erase the lead and lead the final period into a blistering run. However, despite boasting the game's top scorer (Alpha Diallo - 31 points), the Guineans fell by the wayside in this edition of Afrobasket.
Mali will now face Ivory Coast in a quarterfinal match of the competition. The match is scheduled for this Wednesday at 4 pm.
FIBA world ranking leader misses quarterfinals
The final quarterfinal playoff match of the day saw the elimination of South Sudan, one of the competition's contenders and the 23rd-best team in the world.
After surprising setbacks in the initial phase, in which they lost to Guinea and Angola, Sudan again suffered a negative result by being eliminated by Senegal (78-65).
In a game that was expected to be evenly matched, but wasn't, Senegal always led – partly thanks to their defensive efficiency – eventually holding a 21-point lead over the tournament's best-ranked team. Point guard Branco Badio, with 31 points, was the top scorer of the match.
Senegal will now face Nigeria in the quarterfinals scheduled for Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Cape Verde or Tunisia: Angola to discover quarterfinal opponent
Cape Verde and Tunisia will play the first match of the final day of the playoffs for the next stage of the competition this Tuesday. Starting at 4:00 pm, the two teams will face off at the Kilamba Pavilion, with the winner facing the tournament host, Angola, next Thursday (7:00 pm).
The day also features the final match of this qualifying stage, which will pit Cameroon against DR Congo. The winner of this match will face Egypt, also scheduled for Thursday (4:00 pm).
