South Sudan is out to make the most of its much-deserved FIBA World Cup debut.
The youngest nation in the competition, which is just 12-years old as a country and just a decade-old member of FIBA, is now at the doorsteps of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
All that stands in the way of the Bright Stars’ flight to Paris is another African squad in Angola.
Confident South Sudan battles Angola in a crucial end of classification round clash today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum with so much at stake.
Game time is at 4 p.m. followed by Gilas Pilipinas’ encounter against China at 8 p.m.
South Sudan picked its second World Cup win at the expense of home team Gilas Pilipinas, 87-68, last Thursday to move closer to its goal of an Olympic stint after crashing out of the second round.
The South Sudanese together with Egypt, which beat Jordan, 85-69, for its second win, have the clear chance of clinching a Summer Games seat reserved for the best-placed African team in the tournament.
“I told my guys since the first game that there’s no such thing as coincidence or luck. We earned it. We all deserve it. We earned everything. We came and competed from Zone 5 to now,” Sudan head coach Royal Ivey said.
“My guys are resilient. They know how to work. They push forward. They fought day in and day out. We got here because of our hard work, the sweat equity that we put in everyday and now we’re reaping the rewards,” he added.
However, Ivey is firm in reminding his squad that the job is not yet done.
“But it’s not over. We got another game on Saturday and my guys are not content, we want more,” Ivey said.
Leading the charge for South Sudan is Chicago Bulls guard Carlik Jones, who came a rebound short of becoming the first player in the World Cup to record a triple-double after putting up 17 points, 14 assists and nine boards against Gilas.
Nuni Omot, Marial Shayok, Majok Deng and Wenyen Gabriel will provide the support for South Sudan, who are favored to get past an Angolan squad reeling from a 76-83 loss to China last Thursday.
A win by South Sudan coupled with a loss by Egypt to New Zealand today will give the squad the automatic Olympic spot.
In case both South Sudan and Egypt hurdle their respective opponent, the country with the superior point ratio will get the Paris slot.
Aside from their Olympic dream, South Sudan players are also playing their hearts out for a deeper meaning for their people back in their conflict-torn country.
“We leave our heart, our soul, our sweat on the court because we know through basketball we unite the family of South Sudan, the people of South Sudan,” Ivey said.
“When we play basketball everything ceases, the violence stops. All their eyes are on us, they are watching us. So we continue to push it forward, we continue to win and we continue to play at a high level.”
