A day after Angola beat the Philippines, Cape Verde defeated Venezuela and South Sudan pummeled China for their first-ever "W" at the World Cup on a fruitful day for Africa. Ivory Coast edged Iran.
(2023 Getty Images)
The African nations are lighting up the FIBA World Cup 2023.
Just one day after Angola got the better of co-hosts the Philippines 80-70 in Group A, Cape Verde and South Sudan had a watershed moment on Monday (28 August) as they both won their first-ever game at the FIBA World Cup.
South Sudan went to bat first, handsomely defeating The People's Republic of China 89-69 in Group B in Manila behind 21 points and six assists from Carlik Jones - the most lopsided World Cup loss for China to an African team.
Shortly afterwards in Okinawa in Group F, Cape Verde knocked out Venezuela 81-75 as Betinho Gomes scored 22 points.
The South Sudanese, who wrap up the first round on Wednesday against Serbia, managed to bounce back from a heartbreaking defeat to Puerto Rico two days ago although the World Cup debutantes led for more than 35 minutes.
Cape Verde were thumped 85-60 by Georgia in their opening game. They take on Luka Doncic and Slovenia to end the group phase.
Africa produced another winner on this day, as Ivory Coast beat Iran by a hair 71-69 in Group G as Behnam Yakhchali missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer in Jakarta.