AfroBasket - Egypt stun Tunisia, Cape Verde, Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire into Quarters

ABIDJAN (AfroBasket/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - Tunisia's shocking elimination at the hands of Egypt marked the AfroBasket 2013 Eight-Finals as the race to qualify for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup is now down to eight teams.

Tunisia's attempt to secure one of the three places for African teams in Spain next year was abruptly ended on Tuesday, following a 77-67 defeat at the hands of a determined Egyptian team that had already showed more potential than their winless run in the Preliminary Round of the tournament might have indicated.

Wael Kedhr and Ibrahim El-Gammal paced Egypt with 19 points apiece to eliminate the defending champions, who failed to make the most of Macram Ben Romdhane's game-high 22 points.

The Tunisians had two tight wins in the Preliminary Round, against Morocco and Rwanda, but this Egypt team was simply too much for an appalled Adel Tlatli's team.

In the second game of the day, Cape Verde came back from a 16-point deficit to beat Republic of Congo (CGO) 67-60 and roll into the Quarter-Finals thanks to a high performance by Mario Correia who hit two three-pointers in the final four minutes of the game and finished with 14 points.

The islanders secured their first Quarter-Final spot since 2007 when they went on to finish third.

In the third game of the day, a sloppy Senegal team that turned the ball over 22 times qualified for the Quarter-Finals for the third consecutive time in the tournament with a 67-57 win over Rwanda who pushed them until the final minutes of the contest.

Hamady Ndiaye hit a jumper to put Senegal in front 56-55 with three minutes remaining and they never looked back, despite Rwanda's persistence to come back in the game.

Kami Gabangu and Kenneth Gasana both played the entire game and combined for 26 points for Rwanda, but Senegal simply could not be slowed down.

Nigeria rolled into the Quarter-Finals with a commanding 112-75 win over Central African Republic (CAF).

Stan Okoye had game-high 29 points while Max Kouguere led the losing side with 22 points.

Wednesday's action will see the Quarter-Finals, with Angola opening the proceedings against Morocco, followed by Egypt taking on Cape Verde. Tournament hosts Cote d'Ivoire will then square off against Cameroon before Senegal face Nigeria.

For full and in-depth coverage of AfroBasket 2013, go to the official website http://abidjan2013.fibaafrica.com/.

FIBA