ABIDJAN (Cote d'Ivoire) - Gabon and Morocco were desperate for their first win at the 2026 FIBA U18 AfroBasket when the two sides faced off in their final Group B game.
A win for either side would keep alive chances of qualifying for the quarterfinals as one of the third-best finishers, depending on the results from the other two groups.
It was Morocco that had a fast start, running to a 27-15 lead at the end of the first quarter, but led by as many as 15 points.
Despite having the lead, Morocco did not control the game well, and in the second quarter, Gabon fought back, tied the game at 33 with just over 2 minutes to play in the quarter and went ahead on Leyigui’s free throws for a 37-33 halftime lead.
Morocco regained the lead in the third quarter with guard Mehdi Barrada (14 points) leading the charge alongside Youssef Belgada, coupled with good team defence that limited Gabon to just 9 points.
There was all to play for in the fourth quarter as only four points separated the teams. Tied at 50 midway through, Gabon completed the game with a 17-12 run to register a 67-62 win.
With the victory, Gabon finished 3rd in the group with a 1-2 record, while Morocco dropped to 0-3 and finish bottom.
Junior Aboubacar Garba Nangha-Ngoualh led all scorers with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Despite having a poor shooting afternoon, Darryl Georges Mbiguis contributed 15 points while Junior Aboubacar Garba Nangha-Ngoualh chipped in with 12 points and made 6 assists.
Gabon coach Ylaurich Bertrand Ondo Zogo termed the win as ‘absolutely essential’, saying it will reignite the country’s basketball program.
“It was absolutely essential that we win. There was no need for complex calculations. Gabon wasn’t even ranked before we arrived here—that’s a point worth making clear. If you look at the African U-18 basketball rankings, Gabon didn’t have a ranking. With this victory, we’ll certainly break into the top fifteen, and that’s exactly what we wanted. That was the specific goal. We needed this win to really kickstart things again in our basketball program.”
Noah Mohammed El Baze stuffed the stat sheet in a losing effort. The guard finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists, and 7 steals. Mohamed-Zouhir Zoubir (11 points) also scored in double figures for Morocco.
FIBA