ANTANANARIVO (Madagascar) - One day before rest day, it was time to punch names on tickets to the 2022 FIBA U18 African Championship Quarter-Finals.

Eight teams made it to the next round - Senegal, Madagascar, Algeria and Benin from Group A, while Egypt, Mali, Guinea and Angola were the lucky ones from Group B.

In the day's high-profile game between Senegal and Madagascar, the West Africans fended off the locals 70-62, after a game of sweat and nearly made of tears.

Madagascar had a strong start to the game, leading by five (36-31) at the end of the first quarter. It was around then that Senegal changed tactics to counter the Malagasy efforts.

"We realized that our zonal defence didn't work. So, we switched to one-on-one defence and this worked better," said Senegal's head coach Parfait Adjivon. 

And his men rose to the occasion, especially Ousmane Ndiaye, who scored a double-double (18 points, 18 rebounds) and added 2 steals. But Senegal's victory bears the mark of Mouhamed Faye.

Mouhamed Faye claimed 26 points and 15 rebounds

He alone accounted for 26 points points and 15 rebounds, with 4 assists and 1 block. "It was important for us to finish first, as this was today's game stakes," adds the head coach.

ALGERIA ADVANCE

Algeria punched their names on the ticket for the Quarter-Finals by overcoming the challenge presented by Benin.

The squad led by coach Farouk Saifi brilliantly fended off their opponent, grabbing a most important win (85-50) on their way to the next stage.

Both coach Saifi and point guard Zayd Yahiaoui agree on what needs to be done to keep the hopes high. "We have identified where our strengths and weaknesses and we are going to work on them. For instance, till now, we haven’t played to our highest level. This is what we'll do in our next game," said Yahiaoui.

END OF THE ROAD FOR RWANDA

Group B, on the other hand, has seen the elimination of Rwanda from the race after a tough game against Angola.

During that game, Angola relied on Bencao Vungo (12 points), Joao Marcelo (10 points), Aloisio Andrade (17 points) et Eduardo Simao (15 points) to make the difference.

Rwanda did, at times, attempt bold moves, which were somewhat inefficient. Proof is no-one on from their side ended with double-digit points.

MALI WIN GROUP B

Later on, Mali also grabbed hold of the final ticket for the Quarter-Finals as they held off Guinea 74-39 in the day’s last game.

With Abdramane Kanoute homing 26 points, along with 6 rebounds and as much steals to his credit, Mali's point guard had a field day against Guinea.

The West Africans had, in fact, found a way to neutralize Guinea playmaker Ibrahima Diallo, who was far from his standards with only 5 points to his tally.

With the Quarter-Finals due this coming Wednesday, rest day is going to be the day the players will appreciate the most.

FIBA