Senegal sink Tunisia to relaunch World Cup Qualifiers campaign

 

MONASTIR (Tunisia) - There is no memory of Tunisia losing two straight home games, but that's what happened on Saturday as the reigning African champions fell short to Senegal 73-63 in Monastir.

Tunisia stepped on the floor looking to bounce back from a loss to Egypt 24 hours previously, but taking on a desperate Senegal team was simply a huge task, especially without their best player Salah Mejri, who sat out due to a knee injury.

Tunisia Head Coach Dirk Bauermman praised his players' effort. "This is the golden generation that has done so much for Tunisia in basketball, they are 34, 35 and older, they deserve full support for what they have done. They won African champions, they should be celebrated like crazy."  

Despite the setback, Tunisia had a decent start to the game, and headed to the locker room leading 40-33.

But it was a matter of time as Senegal regrouped to take control of the game.

Once again, Gorgui Dieng lifted his country with a game-high of 20 points, and Brancou Badio backed him with 16 points and four assists to help Senegal improve to 5-3 in the African Qualifiers with a game left in Window 4 against Cameroon.

Yacine Toumi led Tunisia with 14 points and 7 rebounds, and Michael Roll, the other Tunisian player to score in double digits, added 14 points also. 

TURNING POINT: It was a evenly matched content in the first three quarters, but  when Senegal Jean-Jacques Boissy hit a three-pointer later in the third and Yossoupha Ndoye converted two Free-Throws that earned Senegal a 54-51 lead heading to the final ten minutes of the game, they never trailed again. 

Mohamed Faye hit a midrange jumper to open the the final quarter and help Senegal take control of their destiny. Even though Michael Roll sent fans inside the Mohamed Mzali Gymnasium into a frenzy with his three-point that was followed by a layup (56-56), Senegal never panicked. 

But the play that probably defined the game was a three-pointer from Brancou Badio that earned Senegal a 69-61 lead with 3:45 minutes left. 

GAME HERO: There is no question how impactful Giorgui Dieng has been for Senegal. The Atlanta Hawks forward scored Senegal's first 5 points, before finishing with a 20-point, 7 rebounds performance  

STATS DON'T LIE: Senegal's bench proved vital as they outscored Tunisia's 22-12. While Senegal finished 22 for 27 from the Free-Throw line (81.5 percent), Tunisia recorded a modest 38.5 percent (5 for 13).

BOTTOM LINE: Senegal's desperation mode proved too much for Tunisia to deal with. Although Tunisia showed signs of trying to bounce back from a tough loss to Egypt 24 hours previously, they were unable to, especially with the absence of Salah Mejri

Tunisia entered Window 4 of the African Qualifiers, but they are on two-game skid.

THEY SAID: "For us it was like our last game. We are taking one game at a time, but tonight, we came out and gave everything we had. Our key is how we defend. We defended very aggressively and we just keep doing what we have been doing defensively. That's how we are winning ball games. It was a great win. Right now, we just want play our next game." - Senegal guard Brancou Badio.

"Very proud of the way we competed. Obviously, Sala [Mejri] who dominated the first half against Egypt [August, 2022], and today he couldn't play at all because of a knee injury. And a player who really played well for us in these last two games Firas [Lahiani] sprained his ankle really bad. So we had to improvise at the four position, and it really changed everything for us. This situation, Senegal used a huge advantage - they out-rebounded us by 12 - we couldn't recover from that, but I must say how proud how hard we played. [Yacine] Toumi has been the most pleasant surprise wonderful surprise. A wonderful young man, works very hard, very dedicated, and a very talented player. [his performance] should make us feel really good in the years to come, having a young player like him. ." - Tunisia Head Coach Dirk Bauermann.

"They really hurt us in rebounds. We did a pretty good job. We gave everything we got, all those injuries, that's basketball." - Tunisia forward Yacine Toumi.

 FIBA