South Sudan hold dia style of pace, spacing and outside shooting to beat Guinea 81-71 for di second round of 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup African qualifiers for Salle Multidisciplinaire de Radès. Di Bright Stars start strong wit 25 points for first quarter, den add 28 for second one to build big lead before halftime.
JT Thor, Peter Jok, Carlik Jones and Lok Wur all convert open shots from perimeter, while Nuni Omoti, Wanyen Gabriel and Majok Deng attack di paint and force Abdoulaye Sy to commit foul early. South Sudan aggressive defence limit Guinea to 21.05 percent shooting from di field for first half and 3-of-18 from three-point range.
Guinea switch to zone defence afta di break and outscore South Sudan for big part of second half, cut di gap to four points for fourth quarter. Jones, wey end di game wit team-high 18 points, steady di Bright Stars for di final stretch to seal di win.
"We play small flat for di second half. Di fact say di coach play zone all di second half na testament to my players because wen dem play man-to-man, dem no fit guard us," South Sudan coach Royal Ivey tok. Guinea coach Corey Alan Frazier agree say e bi gamble to try to run wit South Sudan. South Sudan improve to 5-2 while Guinea fall to 4-3.
