Guinea and Senegal claim victories in Classification Round

 

ANTANANARIVO (Madagascar) - Guinea and Senegal have clearly recovered from their Quarter-Finals losses. They showed it by claiming comforting victories in their respective Classification Games on Friday.

Guinea trounced Benin 95-61 while Senegal outclassed Algeria 73-55.

Ibrahima Diallo and his team-mates were off to a strong start, while fending off Benin's offensive game attempts.

By the end of the opening quarter, Guinea were up by 13 (19-6), a sign of their diligence to compete for a Fifth-Place spot. 

Guinea exploited their opponent's weaknesses and capitalized on their team work, to find themselves comfortably installed, controlling the game 52-20 at halftime. 

Benin tried to come back in the game at the third quarter, with Guinea lacking accuracy from their shots, both in and out of the paint.

In the final run, Guinea, however, gave it all they had, scoring four times from behind the arc, while they took care of their stats along the way.

Ibrahima Diallo showed his talent with 22 points, Ibrahim Souare downed 25 points, N'Famara Dabo scored 17 points, and Ibrahima Sanoh scored 11 points.

Benin also produced, for the first time in Madagascar, a high-paced game by their captain Samoudine Moussa (10 points), Zimé Nassif Mora (10 points), Godwill Sanny, who toped the scoreboard for Benin with 20 points, while Jérôme Bonou ended the game with 12 points.

In the day's other Classification Round game, Senegal easily defeated Algeria in a bid to clinch the 5th place of the tournament. 

The Senegalese quickly stated their intentions by calling theirs the first quarter, while consolidating their advantage (22-13, 19-8) to the next two rounds.

Seydina Limamoulaye Faye, who scored a double-double (19 points, 11 rebounds), along with Mouhamed Faye, (12 points, 10 rebounds), Max Ndiaye (10 points) et Ibrahima Dieng, who pitched 10 points in 14 minutes, had a field day.

Algeria's men were Mehdi Bouhmama (13 points, 4 out of 4 free-throws), Omar Fateh Ben Salah (12 points), Chakib Sedoud (11 points, 3 out of 3 at free-throws) and Adlene Toufik Abderrahim(12 points). But this did not prevent them from sinking.

Senegal will clash Guinea in a bid to grab the Fifth-Place on Saturday, while Algeria and Benin will battle for the Seventh-Place. 

FIBA