MANILA, Philippines – Following its historic win in the FIBA World Cup, South Sudan is eyeing more victories in the basketball meet.
South Sudan demolished China, 89-69, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Monday afternoon for its first ever World Cup triumph.
After the game, South Sudan head coach Royal Ivey described their win as “remarkable.”
“It is a great feeling for these players. I am so excited and happy for them getting the first win in this World Cup,” Ivey told reporters at the post-game press conference.
“For this young nation, for the people of South Sudan, I know they’re tuning in. We got one but we’re not satisfied. And we’ll continue to focus and lock in for the next game,” he added.
South Sudan earlier dropped a five-point heartbreaker against Puerto Rico, 101-96. They stormed back from being down by as much as 12 points in their first game to take it to overtime.
Ivey said being able to close the game out, even if China cut a huge lead to single digits in the final period, was paramount for his team.
“My players stuck to the game plan from the opening tip to the closing horn. They were resilient, persistent, they had laser-like focus, they followed the game plan and competed at the highest level," he said.
“I commend everybody, from one to 12, they did their job. They executed. They played with emotion. They played with fight. They played with fire. We competed all 40 minutes and we came out with the victory,” he added.
South Sudan will try to close out the elimination round with a victory, but they will be facing a tall task against a red-hot, unbeaten Serbia team on Wednesday.