China, Japan, Finland, Lebanon, Mexico, South Sudan and Egypt takes victories in the playoff from 17th to 32nd place, when it comes to the FIBA World Cup.
Japan neutralized the previous triumph of Aleksandar Djordjevic’s China over Angola with 83:76 with its 86:77 victory over Venezuela.
Djordjevic’s team achieved their first favorable result at the World Cup, and Jinqiu Hu was the most responsible for that with 20 points, while Kyle Anderson added 17. On the other side, Childe Dundao scored 17 and Bruno Fernando 16 points.
Japan protect home court again and pick up the W! π#FIBAWC x #WinForJapan π―π΅ I #AkatsukiJapan
— FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 π (@FIBAWC) August 31, 2023
Thus, there was a glimmer of hope that China could end up at the Olympic Games in Paris as the best Asian team.
However, soon Japan broke the calculation, so after Venezuela, they have one more victory than China. It didn’t look like it would be like that until the last section, which Thomas Hovasse’s team decided in their favor with 33:15 and thus took a big step towards Paris.
The most deserving for that were Makoto Hieima with 23 and Yuta Watanabe with 21 points. Garly Soj’s game with 20 points is worth mentioning in the defeated team.
Carlik Jonesβ incredible all-around game leads South Sudan past Philippines π€©#FIBAWC x #WinForSouthSudan πΈπΈ
— FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 π (@FIBAWC) August 31, 2023
In the remaining matches, one of the biggest disappointments of the tournament, Finland, defeated Cape Verde 100:77, with 34 points from Lauri Markkanen, while on the other side Ivan Almeida scored 17.
Mexico and Lebanon took advantage of the fact that New Zealand and Ivory Coast were knocked out of the group stage in the very finals yesterday. The South American team outplayed the New Zealanders with 108:100, while the Lebanese were better than the African team with 94:84.
For Mexico, Paco Cruz stood out with 27 points, Reuben te Rangi scored 32 in Pero Cameron’s team. Jean Phillipe Dally tried to bring the Ivory Coast closer to Paris with 21 points, but Amir Saoud said “no” with 29 points against Lebanon.
Close to the Games is South Sudan, which defeated the Philippines 87:68, thanks to an unreal game by Carlik Jones. He was the guard of the African team within reach of the first triple double in the history of Mundobasket – 17 points, nine rebounds and 14 assists. At the rival, Jordan Clarkson scored 24 points.
Egypt beat Jordan 85:69 with an excellent last part. Ehab Amin and Assem Marei were the most effective with 20 points each. The Jordanians were led by Sami Bzai with 18 points. In the last game of the day, France plays against Iran.