Spirited Mali stun Egypt, Senegal beat Guinea

CAIRO (Egypt) - Defending champions Mali surprised hosts Egypt 79-70 in the second Semi-Final of the FIBA U18 African Championship on Tuesday at the Cairo Stadium. 

Mali, who lost all their three games in the Group Phase, came into this tie as the underdogs against the hosts who on the contrary won all their three games. 

Right from the warmup sessions, Mali displayed seriousness and a locked-in attitude while Egypt visibly seemed to be overconfident. 

A highly contested first quarter, however, showed the class of both teams as the hosts led 17-16. Mali stayed in it focusing on reducing their turnovers, playing good defense while running down the clock on their offense. 

The West Africans outscored Egypt 26-11 in the second quarter to open a 42-28 lead at the half time break. They asked the kind of questions Egypt had not been asked all tournament. They knew they were asking the hard questions and Egypt looked lost. 

In the second half of the game, playmaker Mohab Abdalatif took matters in his own hands driving to the basket at every moment and ultimately his 21 points, six assists and four rebounds came in handy but it was too late. 

Abdalatif has been Egypt's best player so far

Drama ensued in the last five minutes of the game when center Abdullah Ahmed inspired the home side with support from the handful of fans in the stadium to rally their team to within eight points of Mali 68-60 with 3:42 to play. 

Nail-biting scenes called for calmness in the Malian camp and when Abdalatif's brilliance cut down Mali's lead to just five points 68-63, it seemed like a possible mission. Could Egypt stay disciplined enough? They failed at that as Mali ran down the clock at every possession carefully managing their tempers and the ball. 

"We knew this would be a tough game. Egypt won the first game and we knew that we had to respond and we did exactly that. I am so proud of the boys. They fought so hard and now we are in the final. Congratulations to all Malians," explained Mali head coach Alhadji Dicko. 

Meanwhile, Senegal defeated Guinea 52-39 in a low scoring game that will see both sides proud of their defense but concerned about their scoring on the board. 

Guinea turned over the ball 23 times, made 21 team fouls and indeed Senegal received the gift to the charity line with both hands converting 12 of 19 attempts. 

Senegal center Ibou Dianko Badji once again put up a stellar performance posting 15 rebounds, seven blocks and seven points in a game where his presence in the paint was felt by their opponents. 

In a game won by the bigs, Khalifa Ababacar Diop added 13 points, nine rebounds and seven assists while captain Pape Ablaye Sow leading from the back court registered 10 points and five rebounds. 

Senegal out-rebounded Guinea 53-38 and even though Mambourou Mara once again stood tall in the paint to face the Senegalese dominance, his efforts of scoring 15 points were not enough to help Guinea qualify for the Final on Tuesday. 

FIBA