RADES (Tunisia) - In the space of just 48 hours, South Sudan went from scoring 109 points against Cape Verde to scoring just 56 against an aggressive Cameroonian team on the final day of the first round of Group C in Rades, Tunisia.
Cameroon's 60–56 victory over the Bright Stars was largely due to their aggressive defence, which disrupted South Sudan's offence from start to finish.
South Sudan shot 3 for 30 from deep, finishing with an overall shooting percentage of 16 for 37, and turned the ball over 14 times.
The last time South Sudan scored fewer than 60 points was in a 76–56 loss to Nigeria in the 2021 AfroBasket qualifiers in Kigali.
Jackson Makoi, one of South Sudan's top scorers, shot 0-for-11, while Makur Maker finished with just two points after a 1-for-7 shooting night.
Tut Gach led South Sudan in scoring with 15 points. His teammate Deng Adel contributed 14 points.
Cameroon fought hard, knowing that dropping to 1-2 after three games was not an option. At one point they were leading by 18, but South Sudan then cut the gap to just two points.
'They played a very physical game and were able to disrupt our offence. We really couldn't put the ball in the basket offensively. Credit to Cameroon for their strong defence," acknowledged South Sudan head coach Luol Deng.
By contrast, Cameroon sank 10 three-pointers and distributed the ball much more effectively, finishing with 19 assists compared to South Sudan's 14.
"We won the game with our defence," said Cameroon's head coach, Alfred Aboya.
He continued: "We told our players that South Sudan scores in three levels: transition, catch-and-shoot threes and then, they score in offensive rebounds. We took that away, which is 60 percent of their offence. We did a good job in taking away their strengths and we explored their weaknesses in the offensive end," Aboya explained.
Jeremiah Hill and Jordan Bayehe, the only Cameroonians to score in double figures, led Cameroon's offense with 15 points each.
With this victory, both Cameroon and South Sudan concluded their Group A campaign in the first round with a record of 2-1.
It's all about thinking, improving and working hard to make their World Cup a reality, Aboya insisted.
Cameroon's closest moments of qualifying for major world stage competitions came in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (OQT) in 2008 and 2024. Now, having tasted success in the 2027 World Cup African Qualifiers, Cameroon is feeling more confident than ever about turning their fortunes around.
"We showed up and we showed out. We have big ambitions. We want to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in our history and we cannot take anything lightly. That's the lesson we are taking from this first three games. We'll be ready for the next window," Aboya concluded.
FIBA