Egypt meet Mali in rematch of FIBA U16 African Championship Final

CAIRO (Egypt) - Egypt on Saturday survived a nail-biting scare from Algeria to reach a record seventh Final at the FIBA U16 African Championship.

The win brings Egypt within reach of a fifth title after they rallied back in the fourth quarter to win 70-52.

With the victory, Egypt join Mali for a place in the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2022.

The Algerians, who had lost to Egypt 72-53 in an earlier encounter in the Group Phase, came out roaring into the game as they trailed Egypt 16-14 in the opening quarter. Egypt went to the locker room with a 37-25 lead.

At the resumption of the third quarter, the Algerians rose to put up a strong fight that left the home fans at the edge of their seats finishing 17-12 to the Algerians advantage.

With a possible ouster starring the Egyptians in the face, Coach Amr Abouelkhir made changes that turned the tide for the home side. Karim Elgizawy came from the bench and poured in 11 points to close the money quarter at 21-10.

In Saturday's first Semi-Final, Mali sailed through to their fourth Final of the FIBA U16 African Championship with a 70-40 win over first-timers Chad, but the victory is one that Ibrahim Oumar Doumbia is putting behind him as he has his eyes set on the Final against host Egypt.

According to Doumbia, Mali worked hard to make it so far.

"We have trained hard for three months to be at this point and getting a World Cup ticket is great for us but winning against Egypt would be the ultimate. We have one goal and that is to win and take back the Cup to Mali. We're not afraid of who we meet in the final."

The Semi-Final was the second meeting of the two teams in two days and Mali showed they are the superior team with Ladji Coulibaly leading the way for the 2017 champions. Coulibaly scored 12 points, 10 rebounds three assists in Mali's win that saw Chad's Mbafe Kanigue Abdel-Kerim recording a game-high of 17 points.

Despite the loss, Mbafe Kanigue Abdel-Kerim who captained Chad said his team fought like warriors being their first time at the FIBA U16 Championship."This competition has helped us to know that we need to raise our level."

Chad will face Algeria for the third-place position while Mali, Egypt's final encounter follows. This will be the fourth time Mali and Egypt will play in the final.

FIBA