FIBA #AfroCan: It's Quarter-Finals Day

BAMAKO (Mali) - The title race for the FIBA AfroCan 2019 is heating up in Bamako as eight nations take to the court on Wednesday in a bid for a place in the semifinals.

Kenya, Morocco, Algeria and Chad secured the last four tickets for the Quarter-Finals on Tuesday, and will be joining undefeated quartet Mali (2-0), Angola (2-0), DR Congo (2-0) and Tunisia (2-0).

It's been five days since the start of the 12-nation tournament, and, so far, fans attending games at Salamatou Maiga Palace des Sports Arena and those following the games on FIBA's Youtube Channel have witnessed some breathtaking matches.

Take Kenya v Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt v Chad and Algeria v Nigeria as an examples.

Algeria advanced to the last eight thanks to an 84-80 win over Nigeria, Chad upset Egypt 98-95 and Kenya's buzzer-beater sunk the 'Elephants' of Cote d'Ivoire 85-83. 

 
What comes up next? 

Time will tell if having two days of rest ahead of the Quarter-Finals has benefited Angola, Tunisia, DR Congo and Mali, or if playing two important games in 24 hours would have affected or boosted Algeria, Kenya, Morocco and Chad.

Angola v Algeria

In the first matchup of the day, Angola will face Algeria in what could be a nail-biting encounter between two teams aiming to restore their glory days on the continent of Africa's basketball scene.

The Angolans (playing mostly with a B team) made a statement by dispatching Morocco's main team - in the Group Phase - and seem to have gained confidence moving forward. 

Algeria, on the other hand, have proven to be in the tournament to cause some damage as they showed in a 70-68 defeat loss to hosts Mali in the Group Phase.

The team that controls the ball better and dominate the paint is expected to move on to the last four of the competition. 

DR Congo v Chad

After beating Nigeria and Kenya by an average of 21 points, the inevitable question now is if the DR Congo have been tested. 

Facing Chad, a team that fights and rebounds like no other, will be DR Congo's biggest challenge in the competition thus far.

At first glance, the Congolese are favourite to continue in the competition, but they will need to overcome Chad's desperation to lift their first-ever continental trophy.

Mali v Morocco

This could easily be the FIBA AfroCan 2019 grande finale, instead Morocco and hosts Mali meet in the last eight of the newly-launched competition. 

Showing up in Bamako with some of the biggest talents on the continent, made Morocco a team to watch. However, things didn't go according to plan when they struggled to cope with Angola's smaller line-up who disrupted Morocco's game plan from start to finish.

Now, taking on the home team presents yet a bigger challenge. If Morocco can get the better of Mali, then they will be in the driving seat to go all the way to the Championship Game on Saturday.

But Mali count not only with a tireless home crowd, but having forward Benke Diarouma and Ibrahim Djambo brings added bonus to the hosts.

Kenya v Tunisia

After knocking down Cote d'Ivoire and Nigeria to reach the Quarter-Finals, how far can the Kenyans go?

Kenya's Tylor Ongwae has been sensational, averaging 25 points, seven rebounds and almost six assists per game. Unless Tunisia do the homework to contain him, then an upset might happen.

FIBA