LUANDA (Angola) - A win is a win! This seems to have been the Tunisians' mindset approaching their must-win clash against Guinea on Sunday.
They secured victory thanks to a terrific defensive effort.
Tunisia outscored Guinea 9–3 in the final 3:47 minutes to secure the hard-fought 61–50 victory over Guinea, improving their record to 4–2.
But how did they neutralise one of the hottest teams in the competition?
The key was limiting the impact of Shannon Evans and Souleyman Boum Jr., who were crucial to Guinea's success.
Evans, who had orchestrated the Guinean offence with exceptional scoring and playmaking prowess throughout the campaign, scored a campaign-low eight points before exiting the game with 2:11 minutes remaining and the score at 56–47.
Prolific scorer Boum Jr., one of two Guinean players to have scored in double figures alongside Ousmane Drame, finished with 13 points.
Former NBA players Sekou Doumbouya shot 2-for-13 from the floor, finishing with four pints before fouling out late in the game.
Tunisia disrupted Guinea’s offence, forcing 18 turnovers and limiting them to a lowly 28 percent field-goal haul.
The 61–50 victory was the lowest-scoring game of the current African World Cup qualifiers.
The two teams combined for 111 points over forty minutes — two more than the 109 points scored by South Sudan when they defeated Cape Verde 109–79 last November.
“It was definitely a great defensive effort. We neutralised Shannon Evans and Souleyman Boum Jr., but we still faced some difficulties inside, especially with Ousmane Dramé grabbing some key rebounds,” admitted Tunisia playmaker Omar Abada.
In a surprising turn of events, the Guinea head coach Nedeljko Asceric attended the post-match press conference with a written note announcing his resignation. He had led Guinea to the knockout stages of the 2025 AfroBasket, leaving them with a 4–2 record and a lot at stake in the second round of the ongoing 2027 World Cup Qualifiers.
Abada and Firas Lahiani were the only Tunisians to score in double figures, finishing with 15 and 14 points respectively.
This was Guinea’s second consecutive loss ahead of the second round, scheduled for next month.
“We needed this win. That’s why we gave our all,” Abada explained.
FIBA