The Senegal Lions entered Friday’s FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifiers by beating Egypt’s Pharaohs 75-57 at the Dakar Arena in Diamniadio.
At half-time, coach Mamadou Guèye’s proteges led by 11 points, 37-26. The Egyptians reacted in the third quarter by inflicting on the Lions, 17-14. In the fourth quarter, Youssou Ndoye and his partners went into overdrive. They scored 24 points and only conceded 14, ending the game with an 18-point difference (75-57).
With this success, the Lions take first place in pool B. Earlier in this group, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) dominated, 66-56, Kenya. As a curtain raiser in Pool B, South Sudan beat Rwanda, 68-56.
Saturday, in pool D, Egypt will meet Kenya at 12 p.m. and the DRC will challenge Senegal at 6 p.m. All 16 African national teams play the FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifiers across competitive windows. The top three teams from each of the four groups will qualify for the second round of the Africa zone qualifiers.
At the end, the top five will get the ticket to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, a competition that will bring together 32 countries.
