U16 AfroBasket Men: Mali Outlasts Egypt in Dramatic Group C Finale

Mali Outlasts Egypt in Dramatic Group C Finale

This clash was about more than points for both sides, as pride was at stake, especially for Mali, which not only had seven registered players available for the entire tournament but had also been attempting to reclaim the trophy at this level since 2017.

Mali captain Bakary Ballo was pumped up for the tie as he posted 23 points and had three rebounds in about 36 minutes of action, and was assisted by Ibourahima Coulibaly, who finished with 15 points, grabbed eight rebounds and assisted six 6 times. For Egypt, Mohammed Salem again led the team, finishing with 18 points and grabbing six rebounds.

The game lived up to its billing with the spectators witnessing a high-intensity battle that was being played at a frantic pace as Egypt, last edition's runners-up tried to assert their authority from the tipoff against a resolute Malian side who knew that physicality will help them stay in the hunt against the North Africans and they did that effectively to close out the first quarter with a narrow 12–11 lead.

Egypt then came out strongly again in the second quarter to lead by two points at 25-23 to head into the half-time break. Mali then came out a lot stronger in the third quarter to take a six-point lead at some point in the game, but a quick response by the Egyptians saw them close up on the margin. With Mali still managing to edge the third quarter by a point (20-19), the game was still close. 

By the time the quarter was rounded off, the score was 44-43 with a lot still to play for in the final quarter. The North Africans, with a deeper bench and more personnel compared to Mali's situation, took a 4-point lead in the final quarter and could have gone on to manage the game a lot better late on.

Still, Mali picked up again the closing minutes of the game to go on an 18-9 run to secure a solid win over their North African opponents, recording a 67-62 win inside the Petit Stade in Kigali with the West Africans capitalising on Egypt's 17 turnovers as they went on to score 21 points. In contrast, Egypt could only manage 10 points.

Egypt's deeper rotation helped them to register 28 bench points, compared to Mali's 6 bench points, but they dominated the paint with 42 points, narrowly edging past Mali's 32 points in the paint.

After the win, Mali secured top spot in the group. At the same time, Egypt finished in second place and both advanced to the quarterfinals, where they will go on to play against Tunisia and Angola, respectively, on Friday.

All four quarterfinal games are scheduled to take place on Friday, September 12, at the Petit Stade, with the first matchup featuring Cameroon and Uganda, and the final quarterfinal pairing will see Côte d'Ivoire go up against hosts Rwanda.

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[Photography Courtesy of FIBA]