NAIROBI, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Reigning champion Tunisia secured a commanding 81-60 victory over Madagascar at the 2025 FIBA AfroBasket on Sunday, clinching a spot in the quarterfinals qualification with a third-place finish in Group B.
Both sides traded baskets before Madagascar led by one point at halftime. The second half saw guard Oussama Marnaoui stage a breakout performance both inside the paint and from beyond the arc, charging Tunisia to record its first win of the event.
Madagascar, returning to AfroBasket after 14 years, was sent packing with three straight losses.
Coming off the bench, Marnaoui converted 6 of 9 three-pointers for a game-high 33 points, while Omar Abada added 22 points, five rebounds and five assists.
"I had the first two bad games. I felt like I needed to show up for my team and give them the best that I can," Marnaoui told reporters.
Head coach Mehdy Mary underlined Tunisia as "a new generation rebuilding." "I'm very happy that we have the chance to have more games, so it means more experience for this team," he said.
Also in Group B, Nigeria advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating Cameroon 99-90. In the second quarter, Caleb Agada's jumpers, coupled with his teammates' sharp outside shooting, powered Nigeria to a 58-41 halftime lead, before its advantage ballooned to over 30 points.
Cameroon mounted a strong comeback in the final period, but its late 12-0 scoring run wasn't enough to close the gap against the D'Tigers.
"We decided to be very quick and just choke opponents defensively, try to push the ball and run and get easy baskets. That's just our style," said Nigeria's head coach Abdulrahman Mohammed. "We have some extra days to rest. We're going to sit back and take stock of what we did in the past three games."
In Group A, last edition's runner-up Cote d'Ivoire defeated the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) 75-63 to qualify for the quarterfinals.
The DRC will join second-placed Cape Verde in the qualification round, while Rwanda lost to Cape Verde 75-62, concluding its AfroBasket run without a win.
The quarterfinals qualification will commence on Monday, with Guinea to take on Mali and Senegal to face South Sudan. ■