DAKAR (Senegal) - A year ago, Mali caused Côte d'Ivoire unbearable pain.
But on Thursday, Côte d'Ivoire returned the favour with interest.
As the Ivorians sought to reach the AfroBasket Final for the second consecutive time after comfortably reaching the quarter-finals with a commendable 3-0 record, Mali emerged to dash their hopes last year.
Thursday's clash was all about payback, as Mali's 102-96 overtime win over Côte d'Ivoire a year ago was so painful.
"We came for revenge," said an elated Jean Phillipe Dally, who contributed seven points to the morale-boosting 83–77 win over Mali.
Dally is one of four players — alongside Amadou Sidibe, Solo Diabaté and Maxence Dadiet — who left Angola disappointed, but were able to hold their heads up high.
The revamped Côte d'Ivoire squad, featuring newcomers Kobi Simmons, Pacome Dadiet, Jonathan Cissé and David Elie Gassaus, proved too strong for Mali.
"We learned a lot from that loss," admitted Côte d'Ivoire head coach Miguel Ramos.
"We couldn't lose for the second time in a row," said Dally.
Even when Mali came back from trailing by 13 points to just one with a minute to play, Dally said that it was their teamwork that paid off. "We lose as a team and we win as a team."
Siriman Kanoute, who finished with 23 points for the losing side, admitted that Côte d'Ivoire were tough to overcome.
The win saw Côte d'Ivoire improve to 6–1, bringing them closer to securing one of the five places available to African teams at the 2027 World Cup.
Meanwhile, Mali lost their second game in a row, having lost to Angola on the last day of the first round of Group D, and are now 5–2.
FIBA