MVP Ben Romdhane headlines FIBA AfroBasket 2021 All-Star team

 

KIGALI (Rwanda) - Tunisian Makram Ben Romdhane has been named the FIBA AfroBasket 2021 Most Valuable Player after sparking his country to their third continental title.

The 32-year-old, who recently joined Portuguese giants SL Benfica from Tunisian side US Monastir, was vital to his national team throughout the tournament.

Makram Ben Romdhane

The 2.05m (6f 9in) power forward averaged 12 points, and a team-high 7.6 rebounds per game.

Ben Romdhane, who was picked to the FIBA AfroBasket All-Star team for the second time since the 2015 edition of the tournament when he helped his country to the Third-Place finish, contributed eight points and ten rebounds in the title game against Cote d'Ivoire on Sunday.

Joining Ben Romdhane in the All-Tournament team were his teammate Omar Abada, Gorgui Dieng (Senegal), Matt Costello (Cote d'Ivoire) and Walter Tavares (Cape Verde).

Gorgui Dieng

Dieng, who made the Top-5 performers list for the third straight time - after the 2015 and 2017 editions - and received the best-scorer award, averaged 20 points and a team-best 10.5 rebounds per game. 

Abada contributed 12.4 points and 4.8 assists per game, while Costello, a key piece to Cote d'Ivoire's spectacular campaign, finished as the sixth leading scorer in the tournament with averages of team-highs 16.2 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. 

Matt Costello

Tavares, who made his first AfroBasket appearance since 2013, was terrific at both ends of the floor.

The 2.21m (7ft 3in) center not only contributed a tournament-highs 14.2 rebounds and four blocks per game, but he also led Cape Verde with 16.8 points per game.

Walter Tavares 

Tavares won the Best-Rebounder award with 85 rebounds in six games.

Meanwhile, former AfroBasket MVP Carlos Morais won the Best-Three-Pointer award.

Four other AfroBasket 2021 participants received awards for their contribution to the game of basketball, including Kenya head coach Liz Mills, who became the first woman to coach at AfroBasket, and Eduardo Mingas, Stephane Konate and Slimante Radhouane (Tunisia).

FIBA