For three quarters, Chad forced Cameroon to earn every possession, denying any real separation and keeping the contest tightly balanced. Then the fourth quarter arrived, and the game finally opened up decisively.
Last Updated on
August 16, 2026
The 28-point margin hardly told the story of the opening 30 minutes.
Chad matched Cameroon 18-18 through the first quarter and remained within touching distance at halftime, trailing only 32-29. Even after Cameroon edged the third period 18-14, the contest remained manageable at 50-43 entering the fourth.
What followed was demolition. Cameroon opened up the floor, punished Chad in transition and dominated the offensive glass as the game rapidly escaped their opponents. The 27-6 closing quarter turned a seven-point advantage into a 28-point rout and booked Cameroon's place in the Semi-Finals.
The Central Africans produced an 11-0 run during the contest and eventually established their biggest lead of 28 points. That was a remarkable turnaround in a game featuring five lead changes and five ties, with Chad at one stage holding a nine-point advantage.
Cameroon led for 22:13 overall compared with Chad's 12:04, but it was their dominance late in the game that rendered those earlier exchanges almost irrelevant.
Ronny Ewanke and Daryl Baya spearheaded Cameroon's attack with 18 points apiece, but they hurt Chad in very different ways.
Ewanke was devastating from the perimeter, knocking down four of his nine three-point attempts while shooting six-of-12 overall. He also collected nine rebounds and three assists in an excellent all-round display.
Baya did his damage closer to the basket, making six of 12 attempts from the field and five of 10 two-pointers. He added eight rebounds, four steals and two assists.
James Minlend contributed 12 points and seven rebounds, while Felix Deumi scored nine and Nolan Ngangmeni added eight points, five rebounds and four assists.
The depth of Cameroon's production became one of the defining features of the victory.
Their bench outscored Chad's reserves by an extraordinary 36-2 margin, giving Cameroon options throughout the game and becoming increasingly important as the Quarter-Final wore on.
Chad simply could not match that production. Four of their starters reached double figures, led by Ngaba Yaya and Junior Djibrine with 12 points each. Mahamat Aka Ousmane added 11 points, while Timothee Ndohoudou finished with 10.
Yaya also grabbed 10 rebounds to complete a double-double, alongside five assists and four blocks. Djibrine contributed eight rebounds and four assists, but the workload carried by Chad's main rotation eventually became difficult to sustain against Cameroon's depth.
If the fourth quarter provided the visual evidence of Cameroon's superiority, the rebounding numbers explained much of how they created it.
Cameroon overwhelmed Chad 64-40 on the glass and collected 23 offensive rebounds compared with only eight for their opponents.
Those extra possessions produced an 18-0 advantage in second-chance points.
That statistic was particularly damaging for Chad. Stops were frequently not enough; Cameroon simply retrieved missed shots and began another possession. Basketball can be terribly inconsiderate when you've already done the difficult part once.
Cameroon also enjoyed a 12-0 advantage in fast-break points and scored 22 points in the paint to Chad's eight.
Their defensive pressure contributed to the separation as well. Cameroon forced 16 turnovers while committing only 13 and converted Chad's mistakes into 19 points. Chad managed 14 points from Cameroon's turnovers.
Neither team delivered a particularly polished shooting performance, but Cameroon were clearly more efficient.
They shot 36 percent from the field compared with Chad's 28 percent and held a significant advantage from two-point range, converting 39.5 percent against Chad's 23.3 percent.
Chad actually edged the three-point percentages, shooting 32.1 percent compared with Cameroon's 30.3, but their difficulties inside the arc and inability to create second opportunities proved far more significant.
The rebounding disparity also meant Cameroon could survive misses without paying the same price.
Chad had demonstrated considerable resistance earlier in the game. After the opening quarter finished level, they continued to pressure Cameroon through the second and were still only three points behind at the break.
Cameroon began creating separation in the third but had not yet broken the game open.
Then the Semi-Finalists arrived in the fourth quarter.
Their combination of depth, offensive rebounding, transition play and defensive pressure overwhelmed Chad over the final 10 minutes. A Quarter-Final that had spent much of the evening balanced on relatively fine margins suddenly became emphatic.
Cameroon are through to the FIBA U18 AfroBasket 2026 Semi-Finals, and the manner in which they finished this one will provide plenty of warning for whoever comes next.
Chad, meanwhile, leave the title race having competed for three quarters before being swallowed by one devastating final period.
[Photography/Imagery : Courtesy of FIBA]
