MANILA, Philippines – The race for the lone direct African ticket to the Olympics heats up as South Sudan scored a crucial victory over Angola, 101-78, in the FIBA World Cup Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
South Sudan led the whole game, save for all of two seconds, early in the first quarter.
Since then, the FIBA World Cup debutants never looked back.
The South Sudanese led by as much as 23 points in the game as they simply could not miss.
Angola, however, did not go down without a fight, cutting the lead to 12 in the third quarter, 69-57, off an Antonio Monteiro 3-pointer.
This was the lowest lead the Angolans got as the South Sudanese kept their foot on the gas and kept their foes at bay.
A layup by Carlik Jones with 3:05 remaining in the game crushed the hopes of Angola, as South Sudan took an 89-72 lead.
Jones and fellow spitfire point guard Childe Dundao of Angola led the way for their respective squads, with the latter scoring 21 points.
South Sudan's Jones, meanwhile, followed his near-triple double performance against Gilas Pilipinas with 26 points, 15 assists and seven rebounds.
After scoring 16 points and hauling down six rebounds in their game against China, Atlanta Hawk Bruno Fernando did not play for Angola.
South Sudan now leads all African teams in the tournament with a 3-2 win-loss slate.
Angola, meanwhile, fell to a 1-4 win-loss record.
Egypt, currently 2-2, is facing New Zealand as of press time.
If Egypt loses, South Sudan is off to the Olympics as the best African team.