LUANDA (Angola) - The rebuilding Angola team have qualified for their ninth FIBA Basketball World Cup after outplaying Cape Verde on Saturday night at the Pavilhao Multiusos do Kalimba.

Angola, who were cheered on by an enthusiastic home crowd, beat the Blue Sharks 80-67.

For Angola, the victory means there is light at the end of the tunnel and they can start making plans for Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines in August.

Childe Dundao has been Angola's engine throughout the African Qualifiers

Skilful point guard Childe Dundao was Angola's hero on the night as he helped take the game to the Angolans and was full value for his 23 points, and big man Antonio Monteiro dropped 16 points to seal the game for the Black Anthelopes. 

Both teams brought their A-game given the implications of either winning or losing the game. Cape Verde's talisman Walter Tavares, who arrived after doing club duty for Real Madrid, made his presence felt in the paint by diverting and blocking shots.

The Real Madrid giant tall frame forced Angola to settle for outside shots, and attack his presence in the paint forced all the attention to be focused on him, as Cape Verde attempted shots from the outside.

Walter Tavares landed in Luanda a few hours before the clash against Angola

There was little to separate these two battle-tested giants in the first quarter.

A Joel Almeida three-point seemed to have put the islanders in the ascendancy in the dying seconds, but Childe Dundao had other ideas and heaved a three-pointer at the centre circle, which was allowed to stand after the officials confirmed it on video. The decision sent the sizeable crowd into wild raptures and put Angola up 20-18.

The game continued to be dominated by a tense and physical tone as both teams fought for every possession and gave each other no quarter.

Angola would however dominate the quarter and found some success in averting Tavares.

A near baseline floater by Eduardo Francisco and a similar shot by captain Gerson Goncalves inside the arc seemed to do the trick for the Southern Africans.

Angola created some distance between themselves and Cape Verde the second quarter, and finished the quarter 43-36 up with Dundao leading scoring with 14 points.

Joao Gomes notched 11 points for the islanders.

The third quarter saw Angola start like house on fire, with Kevin Kolika and Milton Valante each scoring dunks with assists provided by Dundao. And after an Antonio Monteiro three-pointer, Cape Verde coach Emmanuel Trovoada decided he had seen enough and called a time-out, with the hosts up 50-36.

Every time Cape Verde tried to stage a fightback Angola would have an answer and with four minutes left in the quarter Angola had a 13 point lead (60-47). The homeside would eventually finish the quarter with a 64-52 lead.

The 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup will be Angola's sixth straight appearance in the competition.

FIBA