Afrobasket U16 Men: Mali Dominate Liberia 69-57 in Opener with Stellar Individual Performances

Mali Dominate Liberia 69-57 in Opener with Stellar Individual Performances

Reigning U16 AfroBasket bronze medalists Mali have opened their campaign in the ongoing 2025 competition with a dominant 69-57 victory over Liberia.

Mamoutou Kane-coached Mali fielded a squad of 7 against Liberia's 8, the lean fields doing little to dampen the mood for both sides as they both fought to open their competition on a positive note.

Starters Bakary Ballo and N'Dji Ibourahima Coulibaly led the offense with 19 and 16 points respectively, while Mohamed Keita's double-double of 13 points and 10 boards solidified Mali's favourite tag.

Liberia's bench made sure to keep the Malians on toes contributing 28 points against the opponent's 10, the only statistic they dominated. Mali led on the paint 38-30, and went 27-15 on points off fast breaks.

Coulibaly got action underway shooting from range as Mali raced to a 10-3 lead. The Liberians clawed back to see Leabon David's three-pointer bring them threateningly close at 12-10, but that was the closest the side ever came to taking the lead.

After a 20-14 opening quarter, Idrissa Maiga got the second quarter going from behind the arc as Mali scored four treys in the opening half of the quarter for a 36-20 lead, forcing Liberia into a much-needed timeout.

The remaining three minutes saw Liberia hold their own to score eight more points and keep the deficit at 16 (44-28) heading to the halftime break.

Doumbia's three-point shot after stealing the ball off Alvin Vonley Jr in the opening minute of the second half for 47-28 was responded to immediately by David as the two sides continued to trade blows.

Ballo, dropped his second three of the match halfway through to see Mali lead 54-35. Two more points from the charity stripe for the Liberians saw the quarter end 14-9, Mali carrying a 21-point advantage to the final quarter.

In the final quarter Kamara Kosso, Ousman Kaiza and Ericson Cooper dropped 8 quick points to cut Liberia's advantage to 15 (60-45) with 6:36 minutes to play. With their comeback attempt well underway, David knocked down a three to make it 65-51.

Kosso, who emerged as Liberia's top scorer with 19, coming a rebound shy of a double-double, and Edward Coleman added a three each down the stretch but it was too little too late to turn the match around.

Mali now train their guns on back-to-back wins when they face Morocco while Liberia chase their first win against Egypt, both matches slated for Sunday.

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[Photography Courtesy of FIBA]