Ivorians stun Puerto Rico to earn first win
Cote d'Ivoire have now a reason to celebrate in the 2010 World Championships in Turkey. The Ivorians upset Puerto Rico, 88-79, in their final Group C game to claim their first win of the tournament.
Though their chances of qualifying for the knockout stage are slim after dropping their first four games, the Africans played an inspiring game against the fancied Puerto Ricans.
A solid performance in the opening quarter paved the way for an Ivorian victory. The Ivorians, coached by Swiss Randoald Dessarzin, raced to a 7-2 lead. The Puerto Ricans reduced their lead to four points but the Africans unleashed a 7-0 run to increase their advantage to 17-6 with less than four minutes remaining in the period. The Puerto Ricans closed out the period with back-to-back baskets from Guillermo Diaz and David Huertas to come within 14-19.
Led by the youthful duo of Charles Abouo and Guy Edi, the Ivorians started out the second period with a 6-0 run to extend their lead to 26-14, but the Puerto Ricans fought back to reduce their opponents' lead to 33-36 with 24 seconds left. Luckily for the Ivorians, Kinidinnin Konate nailed a buzzer-beating trey to give his team a 39-33 half-time advantage. Herve Lamizana led the Ivorians with eight points while Abouo added seven.
Similar to the first two quarters, the Ivorians started as the aggressors in the second half. Another trey from Konate stretched the Africans' lead to 42-33, but the Puerto Ricans refused to give up. The Caribbean squad cut the Ivorians' lead to 53-55 after Nathan Peavy made a free throw at the 2:18 mark, but back-to-back three-pointers from Abouo and Edi gave the Ivorians some breathing space. The Africans took a 64-59 lead after three quarters.
Puerto Rico started out strong in the final period. A Huertas trey and a two-pointer from Renaldo Balkman allowed the Puerto Ricans to tie the scores at 64-64. Puerto Rico eventually took the lead, 67-66, with 7:48 remaining after Huertas buried another three-point shot. But it proved to the Puerto Ricans' final taste of the lead as the Ivorians dictated the tempo the rest of the way. Six straight free throws from Mohamed Kone, Lamizana and Abouo allowed the Ivorians to take a 72-67 advantage. A Balkman free throw put the Puerto Ricans within 70-72, but Kone and Lamizana countered with baskets inside the paint. The Ivorians unleashed another 5-0 run to extend their lead to 86-74 with 30 seconds left in the contest.
Abouo topscored for Ivory Coast with 19 points while Kone posted a double-double 17 points and 10 rebounds. Lamizana also finished with 17 points while Konate and Edi added 11 and 10 points, respectively. JJ Barea was the top performer for Puerto Rico with 19 points and seven assists. Huertas contributed 18 points and eight rebounds.
Ivory Coast and Puerto Rico are heading home after finishing the group round with 1-4 records.
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