Lahrichi inspires Morocco's first win to keep alive

MONASTIR (Tunisia) - Morocco edged Cape Verde 72-69 in a hard-fought victory on Thursday at the Salle Olympique Mohamed Mzali to keep their FIBA AfroBasket 2021 Qualifiers hopes alive and kicking. 

Celebrations at the end of the game marked the mood of the Atlas Lions camp as they patted themselves on the backs for a good job well done after they improved their win ratio to 1-3 and now maintain qualification hopes. 

Abdelali Lahrichi sunk 22 points and seven rebounds to guide Morocco to an important victory while Soufiane Kourdou and Soufiane Benhmine added 15 and 11 points in that order for the Atlas Lions. 

"WE FEEL ECSTATIC. THIS WAS A VERY IMPORTANT WIN FOR US. WE WORKED HARD TO GET HERE. OUR GOAL WAS TO INITIALLY GET THE WIN AND EVENTUALLY TRY TO GO OVER THE GOAL AVERAGE WHICH WE WERE NOT SUCCESSFUL IN GETTING AT THE END."- Al Uarichi

Morocco who sit bottom of Group E are desperate to return to the FIBA AfroBasket but a poor start last November pushed them against the wall and subjected them to not having matters in their hands. 

However, Thursday's win means that they have awakened a sleeping giant and positioned themselves to overturn the tables and dictate their future. Naoufal Al Uarichi's men looked the part right from when they arrived in Tunisia.

Cape Verde led 23-16 in the first quarter in a very physical game that saw the islanders command the rhythm of the game but the Moroccans slowly improved their defense in the second period to lay the foundation of a comeback to lead 36-33 at the half time break. 

In the third quarter, the Moroccans failed to find a solution for the Cape Verdean zonal defense as the latter outscored them 21-8 to put themselves in a comfortable position. 

However, the situation got out of hand as Kenneti Mendes, Keven Gomes and Ailton Marques got fouled out endangering the 10-point lead that Cape Verde had over Morocco 54-44 at the end of the third quarter. 

The game which turned out to be a physical contest between the two sides saw the occasional caution from the referees as both sides sought to win at all costs.

Morocco's intensity was eventually too much for the Cape Verdians who have themselves to blame for the loss that puts them in a tricky situation and with their fate not entirely up to them. 

 "We started off with good energy but we played for three quarters. It is always a long game. We did not come up with enough energy defensively and offensively. They did that and that is why they won the game," Xavier told FIBA.basketball. 

Morocco head coach Al Uarichi said, "We feel ecstatic. This was a very important win for us. We worked hard to get here. We played against a very experienced team and one that has several important players. Our goal was to initially get the win and eventually try to go over the goal average which we were not successful in getting at the end. I am very, very happy with the performance of my team."

Cape Verde are 1-3 in Group E tied with Morocco that they defeated 80-73 in the November encounter. Uganda sit second with two wins while Egypt sit top of the table unbeaten in three games. The latter two sides face off on Thursday at 1900hrs GMT. 

FIBA