MOÇÂMEDES (Angola) - Guinea kept their hopes alive of advancing to the quarterfinals by beating Libya 83-55 on Saturday in Moçâmedes in a Group C matchup.
Guinea led from start to finish, never allowing their opponents to come close and leading by as many as 31 points.
Sofian Hamad was the only Libyan player to score in double figures, finishing with 15 points.
Meanwhile, four Guinean players — led by Tidijan Keita — also scored in double figures.
Keita finished with a team-high 14 points, just one rebound shy of a double-double performance.
Unlike in Guinea’s first two games, Alpha Diallo was in the starting lineup. The AS Monaco star player opened the scoring with a three-pointer, then executed a perfect pick-and-roll with Tidijan Keita, who finished with a two-handed dunk.
By the time Guinea forced Libya into two turnovers, resulting in a 11-3 Guinea lead four minutes into the game, Sam Vincent called a timeout to minimize the damage.
Guinea punished Libya’s defense with an impressive 5-for-9 shooting performance from behind the arc in the opening ten minutes, taking a 26-10 lead at the end of the first ten minutes.
Eventually, Guinea shot 11-for-28 from behind the arc.
Libya made only three of their 12 free throw attempts in the opening two quarters.
STATS DON'T LIE: Nasseim Badrush, Libya’s sharpshooter, scored his country’s only three-pointer. The team went 1-for-11 from behind the arc in the first half and trailed 43-28 at halftime.
Guinea led from start to finish, never giving Libya a chance throughout the 40 minutes.
Guinea out-rebounded 53-35; they limited them to a 3-for-22 three-point shooting, but, to make matters for Libya, they only made six of their 16 free-throws.
BOTTOM LINE: While Guinea remain in contention for a spot in the quarterfinals, Libya are returning home, having lost all their Group C games.
Group C reaffirmed this Guinea team's continuing growth. Beating South Sudan and falling to hosts Angola right at the end of the game is a testament to their improvement in recent times.
WHAT THEY SAID: "I don't know what the future holds for me with the team. We're going back to Libya. I'll meet with the federation to discuss their plans for the future. Until then, I can't say anything about my future with the team." - Libya head coach Sam Vincent.
"Our attention is now turning to the World Cup qualifiers. This was our first time participating in AfroBasket. Now that we know what it's like, we're going back home to try to improve." Libya forward Sofian Hamad.
"We are happy to be in contention, whether we qualify automatically for the quarterfinals or go through the qualification round." - Guinea power forward Ousmane Drame.
FIBA