Final

Egypt 82-86 Angola

Angola won the ultimate prize at the 2016 FIBA Africa U18 Men’s Basketball Championships after they narrowly beat defending champions Egypt 86-82 in a title decider Sunday at Amahoro Indoor Stadium in Kigali. 

It’s Angola’s fourth continental youth title, and it was sweet revenge for the Southern Africans, who lost in the 2008 final against Egypt. Angola took charge of their destiny early on in the game, winning the first quarter 25-16.

Angola’s Silvio Sousa dropped his first dunk in the game with two minutes to play in the last quarter but Egyptian Omar Farag replied with a smooth three-pointer as the crowd chanted Angola, Angola... 

Fascinatingly, 56 seconds towards the end of the fourth quarter, the game was tied 76-all when Angola called for timeout. At full time, the game was tied at 77-77, and the winner had to be decided in overtime.

In overtime, Angola took advantage to establish a five-point lead (85-80) with 1:57 to play before Cley Cabanga scored a defensive rebound to seal victory for his side, 86-82. 

Angola’s Bruno Fernandes netted the game high 21-point while Mohammed Youssef contributed 15, with Ahmed Khalaf scoring 14 for Egypt. In the battle for the third place, Mali beat Tunisia 59-52 to claim the bronze medal. 

Forward Ibrahim Doumbia sparked the Malian side with 18 points and three rebounds, while Mohamed Rassil’s 16 points were not enough to avoid Tunisia’s fifth defeat in the tournament. 

Mali will join both Egypt and Angola at next year’s FIBA U-19 World Championships to be staged in Cairo, Egypt. 

In the classification games to determine the other positions, it was an emotional game for both sets of players as hosts Rwanda had to leave it late against neighbours Democratic Republic of Congo to win 77-73 and claim the 5th place on the continent. 

The hosts had given away an 11-point lead at the end of the third quarter but recovered thanks in part to Emile Kazeneza’s two converted free throws that gave head coach Moise Mutokambali breathing space. 

"The team has performed well, because our target was to reach the quarter-finals and let us not forget it’s our first time to finish fifth in this youth continental tournament,” said Mutokabali, who was clearly satisfied with his side’s overall performance in the tournament. 

Rwanda’s point guard Sano Gasana was named the best team leader of the tournament, while Angola’s Silvio Sousa was crowned the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

Algeria defeated Ivory Coast 54-33 to finish in 7th while debutants Uganda beat Gabon to finish 9th.

Classification

1. Angola2. Egypt3. Mali4. Tunisia5. Rwanda6. DR Congo7. Algeria8. Ivory Coast9. Uganda10. Gabon11. Benin

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