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On Sunday, Morocco defeated Cote d’Ivoire 78-76 to emerge champions in a keenly contested encounter in Luanda, Angola on Sunday night, TheNewsGuru.com can exclusively report.
The Atlas Lions of Moroccan qualified for the 2023 AfroCan final, after ousting the defending champions, and winners of the very first edition of the tournament, DR Congo 76-69, on Saturday.
The AfroCAN is exclusively designed for players, plying their trades on the continent, and in their respective domestic leagues.
Beating the Elephants of Côte d’Ivoire at the Luanda Centre, implies that the Atlas Lions of Morocco are first team to beat the Leopards of DR Congo at AfroCan, since the creation of the tournament in 2019.
The win sees Morocco improve from their 2019 AfroCan campaign when they finished fourth in Bamako for the inaugural edition of the competition.
Playing a fast-moving game, the Moroccans built on their success from the moment they took the lead after the break.
It’s Morocco’s first continental trophy since winning the 1965 FIBA AfroBasket.
Although Cote d’Ivoire got off to the best possible start (25-22), Morocco put their ambitions to bed in the second quarter, with a severe 21-11 run to take the lead (43-36).
Another run at 14-13 allowed them to cement their lead, until Cote d’Ivoire’s late awakening (27-21), which was certainly spectacular, but completely out of time as Morocco retained a two-point lead to claim the final victory.
Morocco got their big men to play in the painted area to score 46 points, while seeing their bench score a whopping 38 points compared to just 24 for the Ivorian bench.
The Moroccans were also in total control, with no fewer than 46 rebounds, including 30 on defense alone, while Cote d’Ivoire could only muster 37 rebounds (18 offensive, 19 defensive).
Mohamed Choua put on a stellar performance to help his team to victory. With 13 points, 15 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks, the Moroccan earned his stripes as a general on the court.
At his side during the battle were Kevin Franceschi (14 points), Abdelhakim Zouita (11 points), Soufiane Kourdou (13 points) and Ali Lahrichi (12 points, 4 rebounds).
Morocco’s road to the final saw them defeat Rwanda 59-58; defeated Tunisia 52-67; before beating Cameroun, Kenya and DR Congo at a bounce.
The win means Morocco has qualified automatically for the next edition of the FIBA AfroCan.