ANTANANARIVO (Madagascar) - Central African Republic have finally won their first game in the 2025 FIBA AfroBasket Qualifiers! It may have come late, but it brought smiles to their faces.
Madagascar, on the other hand, were unable to follow up their win over Egypt on Game Day 5, having lost some energy along the way.
The Central Africans took to the field confident that they could make something of their final appearance. The match, which had no big stakes, quickly turned in their favour.
They took an early lead through a Jimmy Djimrabaye three-pointer.
The home side responded swiftly to pull within a point of their opponents. But the first half ended 25-17 in favour of the visitors.
Madagascar opened the second period with a 26-23 lead, but that was to be their only high point of the match. They spent the rest of the period chasing the score.
They came back strongly in the third quarter. But the die had already been cast and Central African Republic ran out 87-75 winners.
TURNING POINT: If Madagascar thought they were bound to have an easy game, they were sorely mistaken! Quite the contrary, in fact. Central African Republic struck hard and dominated the match from the outset, imposing a frenetic pace.
They took advantage of an apparent lack of energy to take over the match. And when they led by 16 points (36-20), they never looked back, despite Madagascar's attempts to get back into the game.
HEROES: Allan Dokossi, who was disqualified during the game against Egypt for an unsportsmanlike foul, redeemed himself in fine style with a double-double (13 points, 19 rebounds). Dandre Washington, meanwhile, finished with the highest score (24 points).
STATS DON'T LIE: The Central Africans proved more adept in the paint. They scored 36 points. They were also more aggressive in the rebounding department, grabbing a total of 43 rebounds, compared with just 27 for the hosts.
BOTTOM LINE: It was a victory of pride for the Central African Republic, who had been out of the running since Madagascar's win over Egypt. But it was also a morale-boosting victory, allowing them to end their AfroBasket 2025 campaign with a smile.
FIBA