First days for South Sudan and Cape Verde who won their first victory in the World Cup in their second group match.
Already in the game against Puerto Rico when they entered the game (101-96 defeat), the players of South Sudan were this time at the end against China behind Carlik Jones’ 21 points. There was notably a 13-4 scored by the 3-pointers of Dut Jok Kacuol and Marial Shayok at the end of the third quarter to bring down the Chinese for good (63-53) and finish strong for an 89- 69.
It was then the turn of Cape Verde, which is also playing its first World Cup, to savor the taste of victory for the first time. After drinking the cup against Georgia two days earlier (60-85), the Cape Verdeans reversed the trend against Venezuela by tearing themselves away to win 81-75.
Betinho Gomez (22 points), Will Tavares (20 points) and Ivan Almeida (18 points) were the offensive leaders on the Cape Verde side, especially at the end of the game when the two teams were back to back at 75-75.
These two successes allow South Sudan and Cape Verde to continue to believe in qualifying for the next round, even if they will have to face Serbia and Slovenia respectively on Wednesday.
Photo credit: FIBA.COM
