LUANDA (Angola) - In a must-win encounter against the reigning African champions, Angola, Egypt achieved a historic victory by beating Angola for the first time in more than three decades.
Although they had already secured their place in the next round thanks to Mali's 82-59 victory over Uganda earlier in the day, Egypt sealed their qualification with a hard-fought and historic 79-73 win over Angola.
Egypt's head coach, Agustí Julbe, acknowledged after the game that "this win boosts our belief in what we have been working on."
The Egyptians played as if their lives depended on it. They contested every possession and disregarded the pressure from the thousands of Angolan fans filling the Kilamba Arena.
"This is my second time playing in this arena. It's always full. It was very hard to beat them,' said Egypt guard Adam Moussa, who finished with nine points and a team-high six assists.
Angola reached an eight-point lead at one stage, but Egypt were not prepared to suffer a fourth defeat in the current qualifying campaign.
"As coaches, we always know what we are going to face, whether individually or as a team. We made some adjustments during the game that helped us implement this strategy. We had fewer turnovers, which helped us play good transition," said Coach Julbe.
Abou Gakou was impressing shooting from deep, but his team-high 15 points did little to deny an highly motivated Egyptian team.
With this win, Egypt improved to 2–3, while Angola dropped to 3–2. Group D's final game is on Sunday, 5 July.
FIBA