MyBasketball

TRIPOLI (Afrobasket 2009) – Angola has captured tonight in the Africa Union Hall in Tripoli, Libya, its sixth consecutive title in a much contested game against Cote d’Ivoire (82 – 72).
It is the 10th overall title for the basketball crazy country from Southern Africa, and Angola will represent Africa as reigning champion at the FIBA World Championship for the third time in a row.

The “Elephants”, the nickname for the team from Cote d’Ivoire, gave the Angolans a tough battle. After finishing the first quarter with a 19-15 lead, both teams went to the locker room with tight 35-34 advantage for Cote d’Ivoire.

Angola took charge in the third quarter but was never really able to pull away. The lead changed a total of 16 times, and the score was tied no less than 6 times during the game.
Angola’s experience with a team that plays together in almost the same composition since 4 years made the difference.
Leading scorers for Angola were Carlos Morais with 21 points, whilst Joaquim Gomes and Olimpio Cipriano added 16 points each.
Pape Amagou led the way for Cote d’Ivoire with 18 points.

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