Guinea, making their third consecutive trip to the AfroBasket, have a young squad eager to put their nation on the map after years in the shadows, while South Sudan, a side that has taken African basketball by storm in the last five years, reaching the World Cup and Olympics, are chasing a maiden African title.
Last Updated on
August 12, 2025
The 2025 AfroBasket tournament is officially underway in Angola, and if the Day 1 clash between Guinea and top-ranked South Sudan is any indication, fans are in for a thrilling championship. Guinea’s Elephants delivered a stunning performance against the Bright Stars, setting the tone for what promises to be an exciting competition.
Despite South Sudan entering the tournament as one of the favorites, Guinea showed resilience and flair, signaling that no team should be underestimated this year. With the energy and intensity displayed on Day 1, AfroBasket 2025 is shaping up to be one of the most competitive and unpredictable editions in recent history.
A spectacular start led by 2021 NBA champion with Milwaukee Bucks, Mamadi Diakite who dropped 15 of his 16 points, including three triple plays, in the opening quarter for an opening 29-20 quarter, carried Guinea through to an 88-80 victory, the biggest upset of the competition yet.
The qualifiers had provided some important context into what the Group C Opening match had in store. By beating Angola by one (66-65) and losing to the reigning champions Tunisia by one (64-63) Guinea had already manifested its desire to dent the established order.
Meanwhile, after qualifying for the 2023 World Cup with an 11–1 record, the Bright Stars were jolted back to reality by losses to Mali (75-70) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (76-69) during the qualifiers.
AS Monaco's Alpha Diallo exploded for 28 points, adding 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals to inspire Guinea to the upset with a 25 efficiency rating.
Diakite, who spent just over 19 minutes on the floor scored 16, converting 100 percent with 4-for-4 from deep and two more baskets to emerge as the side's second best scorer despite fouling out.
Despite dominating the paint 42-20, Bright Stars will have themselves to blame for allowing Guinea dominate the three-point show, going on a 14-for-28 run as compared to the East Africans' 5-for-21 which, coupled with better depth as Guinea's bench went 41-17 better to complete their win.
"It was important to go out there and set the tone, get a win against a really tough opponent in South Sudan. They played well and kept us on our heels but we weathered the storm. We got a lot of defensive stops with a lot of young guys bringing great energy while the veterans like Diakite did their thing for an overall team win," Alpha Diallo said after the match.
South Sudan held the lead, albeit for a short period in the opening five minutes, but five back-to-back treys for the West Africans dragged them to a 23-18 lead as they took the quarter 29-20 and there was no turning back.
Bright Stars fought to regain control at 32-31 with 5 minutes and 59 seconds to play but the opponent pulled away to lead by seven (45-38) at half time.
"There was no secret to this win but the players. Our strength is our team cohesion. We remained calm and did not panic in tough situations and we found solutions amongst ourselves. We did a good job but that is behind us, we have to regroup for Angola," coach Nedeljko Asceric told the media after his side's win.
A 24-21 show in the third quarter for Guinea extended their lead to 10 at 69-59 heading to the final stanza. Nuni Omot dropped 11 points as Bright Stars went 21-19 ahead, but it was too little too late to turn the tide in their favour.
"Credit to Guinea. We went into this game knowing we have a target on our backs and we have to be the aggressors. We came in a little too relaxed like we have proved anything which we haven't. They obviously came out with energy, made a lot of three point shots and we need to do better moving forward, be the hunters instead of getting hunted," South Sudan's Omot offered.
"Guinea did a good job of answering to our runs and it became a game of us chasing and reacting. We had to adjustments on the fly. We can't take anything away from them," South Sudan head coach Luol Deng said. "We will watch Libya in their opening match and prepare for them. It is a must-win game for us now and then we will take our chances when we play Angola and see how the group goes. I think this group is going to be very interesting."
[Photography Courtesy of FIBA]
