LUANDA (Angola) - Angola secured the last ticket to the 2025 AfroBasket semifinals after overcoming a resilient Cape Verde team, winning 90-80 on Thursday.
Angola took the court looking to become the first group winner to advance to the semifinals after Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, and Nigeria all fell short in the quarterfinals.
Although Angola led the entire first half, they had to wait until the end to extend their winning streak to 4-0 in front of a packed Kilamba Arena.
All 12,700 seats at the Kilamba Arena were filled, and a significant number of Cape Verdean supporters living in Angola were among the crowd.
Childe Dundao led all players in scoring with 30 points. Aboubacar Gakou was the other Angolan player to score in the double digits, finishing with 14 points.
Joel Almeida led Cape Verde with 19 points off the bench, and Edy Tavares added 17 for the islanders.
The 10-point loss marks the end of Cape Verde's 2025 AfroBasket campaign.
TURNING POINT: Cape Verde overcame a 15-point deficit in the first half and led for most of the second until foul trouble hindered their chances of eliminating the 2025 AfroBasket hosts.
At halftime, Angola and Cape Verde were separated by small details, and it was still anyone's game. The islanders shot 43.3% from the floor, while Angola converted 43.2% of their shots.
Joel Almeida opened the third quarter with a three-pointer, and his younger brother, Ivan Almeida, hit a mid-range jumper that gave Cape Verde their first lead (49-48) of the game with seven minutes left in the quarter.
Although Bruno Fernando's layup quickly restored Angola's advantage, 50–49, there was still a lot of time left, even with Angola leading, 65–63, at the end of the third quarter.
The moment the Angolans had been waiting for all night came with 1:43 left when Selton Miguel scored the game-changing three-pointer, giving Angola an 82-79 lead. The Angolans never trailed again.
HERO: At 1.67m Childe Dundao, the shortest player in the entire tournament, was a giant for Angola.
The Petro de Luanda point guard disrupted Cape Verde's defense in a variety of ways, drawing ten fouls and scoring 18 of his 30 points from the charity stripe.
In the end, his teammates applauded his heroic performance by carrying him over their shoulders across the court.
Dundao wasn't the only one making a significant contribution to Angola, though.
Their fans, who filled most of the 12,700 seats, created an unprecedented atmosphere in an African basketball arena.
STATS DON'T LIE: Affected by the deafening atmosphere inside the Kilamba Arena or maybe not, the fact is that Cape Verde's seven turnovers in the final quarter proved costly for the islanders who did many things right to silence the home crowd.
Angola scored 29 of their 90 points off Cape Verde's 25 turnovers.
Foul trouble played a major role in Cape Verde's loss as Joel Almeida, Betinho Gomes, Edy Tavares, all fouled out and Ivan Almeida was ejected after picking a second unsportsmanlike foul in the third quarter.
BOTTOM LINE: Cape Verde demonstrated tremendous teamwork. After rallying from a similar deficit against DR Congo in the group phase to win the game, they almost caused a huge upset in the tournament.
Angola survived the scare from Cape Verde, but it remains to be seen if Jilson Bango, one of their most pivotal players, will return to the tournament after being carried off the court in the first half.
WHAT THEY SAID: "We gave everything, and, to me, that's the most important thing. At least we tried. This game was decided by free-throws and a couple of mistakes on our defense, which cost us the game; They deserved the win. In wish them the best of luck." - Cape Verde center Edy Tavares.
"We already knew it was going to be a tough game. Every time we play them it's always tough like this. I am grateful because my teammates fought hard, and we got the win. There was a lot of stretch on that bench. We were just waiting for the end of the game." - Angola forward Joao Fernandes.
FIBA