DAKAR (Senegal) - DR Congo's duo of Claude Chris Lutete and Jordan Sakho continued their remarkable journey in the AfroBasket 2025 Qualifiers, leading their country to a 74-65 win over Morocco on Saturday in Dakar.
Lutete and Jordan scored more than half of DR Congo's 74 points to help the 'Leopards' improve to 2-0 ahead of Sunday's eagerly-anticipated clash against another undefeated South Sudan (2-0) team.
Lutete was phenomenal, shooting 6-for-10 from behind the arc to finish with a game-high of 27 points. He was two rebounds shy of a double-double while Sakho shot 7-for-9 near the basket to finish with 16 points and 6 reubonds.
Morocco's leading scorer Kevin Franceschi was 0-7 from the floor, but he remained defiant for their last game against Mali. "We have to come out and play better. They [Mali] are 0-2 just like us, but we'll do everything we can to come up with a win."
TURNING POINT: The five lead changes in the opening quarter followed by eight in the second one couldn't be more illustrative of both teams' intentions of finishing on top.
However, keeping Morocco scoreless for almost five minutes while embarking on a 10-0 scoring run in the third quarter proved crucial for Michel Perrin's men, who fell short to Morocco in the 2023 FIBA AfroCan Semi-Final in Angola.
Lutete's buzzer-beater three-pointer sent DR Congo to the locker room with a 41-39 lead. And although Morocco fought hard to change the course of events, DR Congo kept their composure for the remainder of the game.
HERO: Whatever happens in DR Congo's clash against South Sudan on Sunday - their last in Window 2 of the AfroBasket 2025 Qualifiers - Lutete and Sakho will probably be remembered as this Congolese team's game-changers.
STATS DON'T LIE: Morocco tried time and time again to reverse their offensive struggles with excessive three-point attempts, which turned out costly as they finished 5-for-20 from behind the arc, but it was Franceschi's sub-performance (zero point in 27 minutes on the floor) that hurt Morocco the most.
BOTTOM LINE: Saturday's clash between DR Congo and Morocco was like nothing the 2023 AfroCan Semi-Final where Morocco came up on top to eventually win their first continental trophy.
It was a hard-fought battle for most of the first two and fourth quarters where Morocco gave DR Congo some hard time.
However, as Franchesci admitted: "They hit some big shots at critical times of the game."
While DR Congo improved to 2-0, Morocco dropped to 0-2 with a game remaining in the first round of Group A.
THEY SAID: "They couldn't get a hold in the third quarter. We didn't make shots. Tomorrow we've got to bounce back. Hopefully, we'll come out with the win that we need. Sometimes it's not your day, you just have to try to figure out ways to help the team." - Morocco shooting guard Kevin Franceschi.
FIBA