SFAX (Tunisia) - Tunisia eased past Libya 68-45 on Wednesday, followed by a 65-55 win over Algeria on Thursday in a game whose score tells half the story.
The Zone 1 qualifier began on Wednesday, 8 July and will finish on Monday, 13 July.
In a three-way battle for a place at the 2026 FIBA U18 AfroBasket, it is key to hit the ground running, and Tunisia quickly acknowledged that fact.
Playing in front of home fans at Salle Raed Béjaouiin in Sfax, Tunisia have secured two wins in as many games of the Zone 1 Qualifiers.
First, Tunisia eased past Libya 68-45 on Wednesday in a game that the hosts not only controlled from start to finish but also got contributions from all over the floor.
For head coach, Anis Ben Hadj, the second quarter performance in which his side edged Libya 13-12, left room for improvement and his players responded after halftime by outscoring their opponents 24-11 in the third to take full control of the contest.
While Ben Hadj had the liberty of emptying his bench because of the strength in depth, the same cannot be said of coach Ahmed Alojali of Libya who relied heavily on guards Mohammed Arheemah (21 points) and Ayham Zeenoubah (10 points), the only players to score in double figures.
Tunisia improve to 2-0
In their second game, Tunisia were up against relatively strong opposition in Algeria who are defensively sound and offensively structured.
The closely contested first quarter was nothing but a sign that Tunisia cannot afford to let their guard down as Algeria’s Iyad Tadj Eddine Gouriri was hot from downtown, hitting three 3-pointers in the opening ten minutes.
Even when Ahmed Yassine M’Rabet and Adem Rafrafi powered Tunisia to a 16-point (50-34) lead midway through the third quarter, Algeria’s offense, led by Abdelkarim Yahiaoui, remained relentless and halved the deficit by the end of the quarter.
Defensively, Algeria put pressure on the ball leading to three crucial turnovers, forced Tunisia into tough jump shots and took away second chance opportunities with better rebounding.
Algeria, who trailed by 8 points (52-44) at the start of the fourth quarter, continued with the same defensive scheme forcing three early turnovers that were converted into four points.
However, a couple of missed free throws and a missed lay-up from Algeria allowed Tunisia to pull away with Idriss Toumi hitting a clutch 3-pointer that kept the home side on track for victory.
The two wins put Tunisia in pole position to qualify for the final tournament, which will be hosted in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
Next Up
Libya and Algeria face on Friday, July 10.
FIBA