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The victory confirmed South Sudan as the second African team to book their ticket to this year’s world showpiece in Philippines, Indonesia and Japan.
South Sudan became the first ever team in Africa to qualify for the Fiba Basketball World Cup on first attempt Friday night.
The East African nation entered Friday’s clash against Senegal with one foot in the World Cup and only required one win from three games.
Senegal was the only team to have beaten South Sudan in the qualifiers and the youngest African nation set the record straight with a commanding 83-75 win.
The victory confirmed South Sudan as the second African team to book their ticket to this year’s world showpiece in Philippines, Indonesia and Japan.
Egypt became the third team to qualify later in the day with a 71-67 win over African champions Tunisia.
Nuni Omot put up a man-of-the-match performance in a breathtaking encounter that saw two desperate teams looking to rewrite history.
Senegal were hoping to enhance their chances of returning to the World Cup for the third straight time while South Sudan wanted to seal a first ever qualification.
Omot shot seven of 14 from the field and ended the game with a team-high 26 points. He added eight rebounds and dished out 4 assists.
Koch Bar got 11 points, eight rebounds and two assists as South Sudan announced her arrival on the big stage.
Senegal’s Brancou Badio scored a game high 29 points but these were not enough for the West African side.
South Sudan led by 14 early in the first half but Senegal got back in it and were leading in the third frame.
Bul Kuol’s back to back three-pointers gave South Sudan a 77-67 lead with 2.35 minutes left on the clock and there was no coming back for Senegal.
South Sudan entered the World Cup Qualifiers by virtue of playing the 2021 Fiba AfroBasket in Kigali, Rwanda.
The team had not qualified for AfroBasket but benefitted from Algeria’s withdrawal to play the continental showpiece.
The 16 teams that played AfroBasket are the ones that are featuring in the World Cup Qualifiers.
Fiba Basketball World Cup African Qualifiers
Result
South Sudan 83-75 Senegal
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