Tunisia and Egypt close out Group Phase undefeated

RADES (AfroBasket 2015) - Tunisia and Egypt on Sunday closed their AfroBasket 2015 Group Phase campaigns undefeated moving forward to the Round of 16.

In the highly-anticipated game of the day, hosts Tunisia beat Nigeria 70-59.

And as a result of the win, the Tunisians topped Group A ahead of Nigeria, the Central African Republic (CAF) and Uganda.

Playing in front of an almost sellout crowd boosted the home team who played their best game in the tournament so far.

Tunisia opened the contest with a 14-0 run, and led by as many as 21.

Salah Mejri assumed the leading role with 22 points and 7 rebounds. 

In Group A's first game, Max Kouguere denied Uganda a first-ever victory at AfroBasket as the Central African Republic (CAF) secured a 60-56 triumph.

Kouguere stepped up when CAF needed him most as they won their first game in the tournament.

As CAF trailed for 27 minutes, the 28-year-old forward contributed 12 points to help his country clinch third place in the group.

Uganda's Brandon Sebirumbi put on his best performance of the tournament so far with game-highs of 15 points and 13 rebounds, but his team still fell short.

Heading into the fourth quarter with a six-point lead was not encouraging enough for Uganda who turned the ball over twice in the last minute of the contest.

Eventually losing by four points is indicative of the team's inexperience in holding on for such a superb opportunity to win their first game ever in the history of the tournament.

CAF, meanwhile, relied more on individual plays than a team effort, which could be detrimental for them in the Round of 16.

In the day's first game, Cameroon confirmed their second-place finish in Group C after beating Gabon 93-67.

It was Cameroon's second victory of the tournament after losing to Egypt on Friday, and Jeremy Nzeulie was the game-changer for the Cameroonians.

He converted on 5 of his 8 three-point attempts to lead all scorers with 25 points, while Francis Kobangoye did everything in his power to give Gabon their first victory, but his efforts were not enough to avoid their third defeat in as many games.

Although it was an entertaining game, it was also a sloppy one too as the quality of the game was dampened by Gabon's 27 turnovers and Cameroon's 24.

Even though Cameroon finished the Group Phase with a 2-1 mark, they seemed to have lost focus during the contest, which allowed Gabon to take the lead in the third quarter.

Gabon finished the Group Phase with three defeats in as many games, mainly because of their poor ball handling as well as a modest game plan.

Meanwhile, Egypt beat Mali 55-49 to win Group C and advance to the Round of 16 with a perfect 3-0 mark.

Once again, Egypt's back-up shooting guard Ramy Gunady was the game-changer.

Just as he did in the win over Cameroon, Gunady played a big role yet again, hitting 3 of his 7 three-pointers to finish with a game-high 12 points off the bench.

Mali fought throughout to stay alive in the contest, but Egypt were in complete control, leading for 36:03 minutes.

Souarata Cisse and Boubacar Moungoro both hit timely baskets and finished with 10 points apiece for the Malians, but Egypt were not prepared to give away top spot in the pool.

As a result of the defeat, Mali finished third in the group behind Cameroon and ahead of Gabon.

FIBA