Poythress stars in Cote d'Ivoire win over Madagascar

 

CAIRO (Egypt)- Reigning AfroBasket silver medalists, Cote d’Ivoire ope their campaign for qualification to the 2025 edition of the continental competition with a hard-fought 77-69 victory.

Playing Madagascar in the opening match of Group D, the side had the brilliant performance of 30-year-old Alexander Poythress to thank for the win as the Italian-based forward dropped a game-high 26 points to lead the side to victory.

In a tense opening three minutes, the two sides matched point-for-point, every possession changing the lead as the African silver medalists struggled to find their footing against the 120th ranked Malagasy side.

Cote d'Ivoire went ahead 14-07 but Alphonse Ravonimbola' charges cut the deficit to three at 14-11 at the end of the first period, skipper Livio Ratianarivo missing a three at the buzzer that could have tied the match.

Despite Monja Romain bringing Madagascar level at 14 points in the opening minute of the second quarter with a trey, his side found themselves trailing by 10 at 24-14 few minutes later.

However, in a repeat of the first quarter, Madagascar pulled back, coming to within a point at 28-27 but their run was shortlived as Cote d'Ivoire regained their 10-point advantage to head to the break leading 40-30.

The third quarter was evenly matched with Madagascar going 17-16 ahead but the ghosts of the ten-point run for the Ivorians at the tail end of the first quarter haunted Malagasy who still trailed 56-47 heading to the last period.

A 22-21 run for Madagascar was not enough to turn around the game and the Ravonimbola-led islanders' wait for a win continues.

TURNING POINT : Madagascar allowed the African silver medalists to go on scoring sprees twice, the second half ten-point scoring run proving detrimental as they were unable to recover from it despite concerted efforts in the second half.

Stats don't lie: For team known for their shooting prowess behind the arc, Madagascar only dropped 7 of their 35 attempts making their comeback attempts a tall order.

The islanders turned the ball over 12 times, seven times less than the Ivorians did but the latter still managed to outscore the Malagasy 18-16 on points from turnovers.

Madagascar's bench proved a real game changer, going 42-26 but it was not enough to hand them victory.

GAME HERO: Poythress barely put a foot wrong in the match. Thr opening half saw him converting 100% of his attempts on the paint, missing one of his six free throws and once from behind the arc to lead the charts on 15 points at half time. He added 11 more in the second half to lead his team to victory.

BOTTOMLINE: For a team keen to leave Cairo with a perfect score, the win is a morale boost, with coach John Douaglin confident they can hold their own in the remaining two matches.

WHAT WAS SAID: "Madagascar played well and made thing difficult for us offensively, especially in the opening half. I have good shooters in the team and despite this performance, I am not worried about our conversion rate as we head to the best match," Cote d'Ivoire coach John Douaglin.

"Congratulations to Cote D'Ivoire for the win. They played well.and constantly put us under pressure especially on defense. I am, however, proud of the team and how we executed against a team ranked as high as they are. As we head to the second match, we have a few areas to work on and hope to come back stronger and fight for a win," Livio Ratianarivo, captained Madagascar.

FIBA