PRETORIA (South Africa) - West African nation Mali made it a double joy for their country when they annexed a third FIBA U18 AfroBasket title at the University of Pretoria on Saturday night.
The final was a battle between an established power, Mali, with two titles to their name before Saturday's final, and Cameroon, wanting to enter the winner's circle in their debut tournament.
Mali beat Cameroon 60-51 and were led in scoring by a Youssouf Traore's double (15 points and 14 rebounds).
Amadou Traore also delivered a double-double for Mali (12 points and 14 points), while Sekou Bagayoko scored 12 in the winning cause.
Amadou Seini led Cameroon with a double-double of his own (11 points and 13 rebounds).
Both teams traded buckets in the first quarter, and under three minutes gone, a Chatare Baradji three-pointer gave Mali a 10-9 lead.
Mali could have extended their lead when Ibrahim Doumbia forced a turnover, but Daryl Baya chased him down and leapt for the big block.
Another Baradji triple got the second quarter started, but at the 8:50 mark, Gregory Kemet's deep three levelled the scoreline 13-13.
The game was played at high intensity, especially in the paint area, as both teams looked to use their length and size to dominate.
After a Yves Minlend solitary free-throw, Mali got their biggest lead (8 points), with Youssouf Traore getting a bucket and a single free-throw, while Diarra scored from a fast break for the 22-14 lead.
With under two minutes played, Cameroon cut that lead to one - through a Herman Bel bucket and a single shot from the free throw line, a put-back lay up through Ulrich Ngono and two Minlend free throws.
The Malians finished the quarter strong with a Bagayoko bucket and Mamadou Diarra triple for a 27-21 lead. Moussa Cisse's men dominated through second-chance points (15-6), and his bench stepped up (10-5).
Big Seini was impactful for Cameroon in the third quarter and scored three points, which included a single from the free-throw line after Diarra got hit with a technical foul for flopping. Freddy Tchakounte, Bel, and Seini would add buckets each to tie the game 31 all.
With under three minutes to go, Bagayoko found his range with a deep three, and after getting fouled on his baseline drive, he managed to single for the 39-32 lead. At the end of the quarter, Mali led by six 42-36.
Back-to-back points from Cameroon through a Baya put-back and a catch-and-shoot three from Kemet cut the lead to one (42-41). Whenever Cameroon cut the deficit, it galvanised Mali, with Doumbia scoring consecutive buckets to stretch the lead to five (46-41) at the 7:25 mark.
Mali led by six again, but Kemet dribbled into the paint and released an arching floater over Malian hands to reduce the lead to four (50-46). With 1:11 to play, a pair of free throws by Traore opened up the lead to seven (58-51), and a Bagayoko bucket ensured Mali got a third title.
FIBA