Jones guides South Sudan to historic first World Cup victory

MANILA (Philippines) - South Sudan showed they belong on the global stage as the game's youngest country collected their first victory at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 by defeating China 89-69 to stay alive in the race for the Second Round.

Founded as a country in 2011 and accepted into FIBA in 2013, the World Cup debutants South Sudan bounced back from a disappointing opening loss to Puerto Rico for a 1-1 mark in Group B.

Turning point: South Sudan built a 39-28 lead in the second quarter and watched China get close again. The Africans finished the third quarter strong with a 10-4 surge to lead 63-53 after 30 minutes. China were not able to close within eight points in the final period and South Sudan finished the deal as opposed to losing a late one to Puerto Rico.

TCL Player of the Game: South Sudan had five players score in double figures and was topped by Carlik Jones with 21 points while also picking up 5 assists, 2 rebounds and 1 steal.

Stats Don't Lie: South Sudan committed only 4 turnovers while connecting 15-of-30 three-pointers (50 percent). South Sudan became just the third team with only 4 turnovers in a World Cup game - USA vs Puerto Rico in 1994 and Yugoslavia vs Greece in 1998. The record for fewest turnovers is 3 - done three times, most recently by Turkey versus Czech Republic in 2019.

Bottom Line: South Sudan still face a stiff challenge to reach the Second Round as they will face Serbia on Wednesday August 30 for their final group game. But the Africans can be happy about still being alive in the fight.

China may not even be alive when they go into their final game - against Puerto Rico later on Wednesday. The Asians would be eliminated from contention if Serbia lose to Puerto Rico later today.

They Said: "My guys stuck to the game plan from the opening tip to the closing horn. They were resilient, persistent, they had laser-like focus. They completed the game plan and competed at the highest level. And I commend everyone from one to 12. They did their job and executed. They played with emotion, they played with fight, they played with fire. We competed all 40 minutes and we came out with the victory. Kudos to my players. I am very excited for them, getting the first win in this World Cup. For this young nation, for the people of South Sudan. I know they are tuning in. We got one, but we are not satisfied. And we will continue to focus and lock in and focus on the next game." - South Sudan coach Royal Ivey

"This is like a dream come true. People don’t realise where we were two years ago. To be able to do this in front of our fans - people watching back home - it's been a very emotional day for everyone. Getting our first every World Cup win. Just two years ago we were playing Zone 5 and playing outside. The story speaks for itself and how far we have come. That's a credit to Luol (Deng). He had a vision, and he's executed the vision. He has a great staff. They believe in the vision he had. And obviously we are here where we are now. I'm just blessed and honored to be part of this. It's just an emotional and amazing feeling for me and for everyone else on the team." - South Sudan forward Nuni Omot

"It's unbelievable. The feeling is amazing, just to do this with my teammates and the  fans. It's a crazy unbelievable experience." - South Sudan guard Carlik Jones

"We let the last one slip, so winning this one meant a lot. It's an unbelievable win. We've had some bad third quarter stretches even in our exhibition games, so that's something we rreally wanted to focus on. That's especially after we pushed the lead up. This means everything. The country's behind us -- it's a new country and team. We're really just taking it all in." - South Sudan forward Marial Shayok

"One or two (players) are not enough. In games like this we all have to step up. The big difference was their three-point shooting, which was unbelievable today - 50 percent. They also put us in some trouble with their athleticism, height and intimidation under the basket. We couldn't take advantage of our bigs, which is one of our strengths." - China coach Aleksandar Djordjevic

"It was a tough game for us. We didn't stay focused the whole game. We didn't have the same desire as the opponent. That's why we lost."- China guard Zhao Rui

Press conference:

The game report will be updated shortly. Check back soon for Game Highlights and They Said.

FIBA