LILLE (France) - South Sudan's basketball fairytale reached another level at the Men's Olympic Basketball Tournament 2024 as the Bright Stars captured their first Olympics victory in their first ever Olympics game.
Royal Ivey's African side did not wait long to make history at Paris 2024 as they took down established Americas side Puerto Rico 90-79 in their Group C opener at Lille's Pierre Mauroy Stadium.
Their win makes them only the third team from Africa to win its first game at the Olympics, after Central African Republic in 1988 and Nigeria in 2012. Also, it is only the second win of an African team against a team from the Americas in the competition ending a run of 33 defeats between those wins.
The South Sudan players could not hide their joy after the win, screaming out and waving their towels after making more history.
"There's nothing like making history. That is all we’ve been doing. Making history. More history," Nuni Omot said. "It's a blessing. I'm just very happy and excited to be a part of it. We earned this. Everybody deserves it."
"This is a movie. My life is like a movie right now" - South Sudan head coach Royal Ivey
Head coach Royal Ivey could hardly believe what was happening. "Being at the Olympics and getting our first win," he said. "This is so surreal. I couldn't experience anything better than this."
Puerto Rico led most of the first half but it was South Sudan who claimed the lead and showed resilience to fend off the feisty Americas side. Carlik Jones continues to serve as an inspiration for the South Sudanese people with 19 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Jones' sole three-pointer in the game was essentially the dagger - an 86-73 advantage with 3:04 minutes to play.
Marial Shayok's hero status is rising as well after he scored 15 points and Nuni Omot added 12 points, 6 rebounds as well as the first-ever points for South Sudan in Olympics history.
"It was a surreal feeling. Playing in front of our fans, playing on the world stage. It was just a beautiful feeling," Shayok said.
The performance comes less than a year after South Sudan - the number 33 team in the FIBA World Ranking Men, presented by Nike - debuted on the global stage at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 and impressively collected a direct spot at the Olympics as the top finishing team from Africa at FIBA's flagship event with a 17th place result.
It's been a wild few years for fans of the Bright Stars. After only becoming an official country with their independence on July 9, 2011 and then being welcomed into the FIBA family in 2013, South Sudan played their first official game in March 2017.
They reached their first FIBA AfroBasket in 2021 and followed that with an 11-1 record in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 African Qualifiers to book a ticket to their first FIBA World Cup.
South Sudan collected three victories in five games last summer - beating China, Philippines and Angola.
It seemed only fitting that South Sudan's first game at their first Olympics came against Puerto Rico, since that was their first-ever game in the FIBA World Cup. South Sudan lost that encounter in an overtime thriller - 101-96 - in which the Africans handed over a 12-point lead.
Definitly a revenge game - Coach Ivey
"We had this one marked for a year. They got us in the World Cup and we had to return the favor," Coach Ivey said. "We had this circled for a year. I had to wait a year. We gave up a 10-point lead and they beat us in overtime. This was definitely a revenge game. That's the truth."
South Sudan showcased just how much they have developed and matured since then in holding off Puerto Rico and sending the Bright Stars fans into wild celebrations.
FIBA