ABIDJAN (Cote d'Ivoire) - It was history in the making! Côte d'Ivoire rose to the occasion in front of their home fans, defeating Senegal 73–51 in the final of the 2028 FIBA U18 AfroBasket tournament.
This is Côte d'Ivoire's first continental trophy since their senior team won the 1985 FIBA AfroBasket tournament on home soil.
It was also a rematch of the 2012 U18 AfroBasket final, which Senegal won.
Nathan Djakou led the way for Côte d'Ivoire with a game-high 22 points, much to the delight of the packed crowd at the Palais des Sports Treichville in Abidjan.
How did the game unfold?
Côte d’Ivoire’s coach Stephane Konate paced back and forth in his technical area on the sidelines as teams completed their last warm-up drills. He was visibly tense. The full-to-capacity Palais des Sports de Treichville was loud.
The starting five walked on, and shooting guard Nathan Djako had been elevated to starter. Côte d’Ivoire started with a 6-0 run capped by a transition dunk from Jean-Philippe Aka. Coach Mouhamed Diadie Sene needed a timeout for new instructions, possibly to remind his players that the game was on.
Not much changed after Senegal’s first timeout. Code Mbengue was, time and again, dragged out of the paint into a pick-and-roll, as was his substitute Bacary Doucoure, and the outcome was a 16-7 lead for Côte d’Ivoire at the end of the quarter.
Papa Ndiaye and Mouhamed Badiane scored early in the second quarter for Senegal, and Pape Diallo attacked the basket at every invitation, but Côte d’Ivoire found a response to restore the double-digit lead (34-24) by halftime.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Djako, followed by a lay-up from Siincere Hudson to start the third quarter, gave the hosts an 18-point lead. Leading by as many as 21 points (55-34) at the end of the period and playing with the same energy and enthusiasm, a first-ever U18 African championship was on the horizon.
The start to the final quarter only made certain of the inevitable. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Karl-Randell Kouame-Zeze and Medard Dabire three minutes into the period put the game out of reach for Senegal.
Djako finished with a game-high 22 points. Aka contributed 13 points while point guard Jason Ake made 7 assists and grabbed 9 rebounds. Deh-Dimitri Azema and Chris Echui dominated the boards with 10 rebounds each.
Pape Faye finished with a team-high 15 points and 6 rebounds. Fredric Mane also reached double figures with 12 points.
Djako named MVP
Nathan Djako was voted the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) and was joined on the all-star five by Harinosy A’Ranty Rasetriarivony (Madagascar), James Minlend (Cameroon), Yaya Ngaba (Chad) and Code Mbengue (Senegal).
Other awards included Fair Play (Madagascar), Leading Rebounder - Yaya Ngaba (Chad), and Leading 3-Point Shooter - Daryl Georges Mbinguis (Gabon).
FIBA