AfroBasket - Egypt and Angola qualify for Spain 2014, to face off for continental supremacy

ABIDJAN (AfroBasket/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - Egypt and Angola qualified for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup and advanced to the Final of AfroBasket 2013 following convincing Semi-Final wins over Senegal and Cote d'Ivoire respectively on Friday.

The Egyptians - who were without a win in the Preliminary Round - will compete in FIBA's flagship event the first time since 1990 while for the Angolans it was business as usual as they have not missed a FIBA World Championship since 2002.

Egypt entered their Semi-Final looking to make sure their Preliminary Round loss against Senegal would not be repeated. The Egyptians achieved that goal with a 70-63 win that secured their place at Spain 2014 thanks to a gigantic performance by Assem Marei who dominated at both ends of the floor with a staggering 22 points and 17 rebounds.

Senegal will face Cote d'Ivoire in the Third-Place Game, for the remaining place on offer in Abidjan for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Egypt began spoiling Senegal's intentions of returning to the World Championship for the first time since 2006 just at the very beginning of the game on a Marei lay-up.

The Egyptians took the first lead of the game and never looked back, as they were up 28-24 at halftime.

Senegal's taller line-up was a minor concern for an Egyptian team that had been extremely consistent during the Preliminary Round despite their winless three games run.

Egypt controlled and dominated the first half since the game's opening basket, and they made the most of Marei's warrior performance in the paint.

He acted as the team's conductor, running, setting up team-mates, blocking shots and scoring in the most different ways.

The 22-year-old was so efficient that he converted 90 percent (9 of 10) of his field goal attempts in 26 minutes.

"This is a dream come true," Marei told FIBA.com afterwards.

"We worked so hard and I made sure to help my team the best possible way.

"Our mindset was to stay strong and together," he explained.

Egypt's Sheriff Abdalla acknowledged it was a "tough game, but we had to win this game."

Senegal's head coach Cheikh Sarr paid tribute to Marei.

"He is not a center, he is a power forward, and he was too quick for our centers," he said.

"He is simply a good player.

Looking at his team's hopes of still qualifying for Spain 2014 through Saturday's Third-Place Game, Sarr was confident.

"Yes, we still have a chance, we are going to compete."

Senegal made various attempts to comeback in the game. They tied the score at 7, but Egypt made it clear the first half and the rest of the game belonged to them.

Sarr got his team to play zone defense in the third quarter and it proved efficient as it disrupted the Egyptians’ offense for a while, but that was the moment when the North Africans improved their shooting behind the arc.

Maleye Ndoye hit a three pointer that got Senegal within 39-37, but the Egyptians didn't panic and stayed in their positive mode as they headed into the fourth quarter up 42-39.

Both teams found their offense in the final frame, combining for 52 points and Egypt's head coach Amr Aboul Kheir started celebrating the victory with the crowd when Rami Abdalla hit a three-pointer that stretched the lead to 58-47 with 2.30 remaining.

Ndoye was the only Senegalese player to score in double digits with 12 points.

Angola did their homework ahead of their clash with the home side and it showed as they denied them a chance to play for the title of champions of Africa thanks to a 66-59 win in the second Semi-Final.

The Angolans hit 12 three-pointers with Reggie Moore accounting for three of them on his way to 13 points. Mamadou Lamizana led Cote d'Ivoire with 15 points.

Angola dominated most of the first half despite Souleyman Diabate's 11 points. He made two free-throws to tie the game at 28 in the second period with 2:35 left before the break after the hosts trailed by as many as 13 points.

Cote d'Ivoire took their first lead of the game in the final minute of the second quarter. Charles Abouo scored off a turnover by Olimpio Cipriano to edge them in front 34-33 before Kinnidinnin Konate stretched it to a 36-33 halftime lead with a tremendous dunk off a Diabate assist.

However, Angola tied the score at 36 right after the break on a three-pointer by Eduardo Mingas. They then regained the lead on a pair of free-throws by Carlos Morais and never looked back.

Angola's suffocating defense enabled them to strech their advantage to 54-46 ahead heading into the final period.

As the game started to slip away from them, Cote d'Ivoire's players turned to the sellout crowd for their supportive chanting support, which the crowd provided, but the night belonged to Moore, Morais, Cipriano and Co.

With 3:14 left to play, Cote d’Ivoire head coach Natxo Lezkano was given a technical for arguing a referee’s decision and the Angolans stretched the lead to 61-49.

Angola's Armando Costa told FIBA.com: "We managed to stop their point guard (Diabate) who was over performing throughout the tournament.

"We stopped him as he had scored eleven points in the first half, but he remained scoreless for the rest of the game.

"We reached our first objective, but we haven't won anything yet.

"All we have to do now is to calm down because we a big game to play on Saturday."

Gomes added: "The celebration is already over, we must get ready for the big Final.

"We need the same attitude for the Egypt's game.

"We knew we needed to start the game very focused and we did."

Konate acknowledged the Angolans' win by saying they were just too "good tonight. They played very well."

Angola's head coach Paulo Macedo shared his thoughts afterwards.

"It was a tough win against one of the best teams in Africa," he said.

"Our defense won the game, it is as simple as this.

"As Morais said we came here to win he championship and this is what we are planning for the Final."

Macedo's counterpart Natxo Lezkano explained that making so many mistakes against Angola comes at a high price.

"We made a lot of mistakes that can not be made against a team like Angola," he said.

FIBA