Game Report: Mamadou and Aliou Diarra’s stellar performances powered Mali to a thrilling 66-64 victory over Morocco in AfroBasket Qualifiers. Morocco’s late surge, led by Mohamed Choua, fell just short, ensuring Mali secured their first Group A win in Dakar.
Last Updated on
November 26, 2024
Mamadou Diarra and Aliou Diarra led Mali in efficiency as the West Africans picked their first victory over Morocco in Group A of the FIBA AfroBasket Qualifiers Window 2 in Dakar. 27-year-old Mamadou, on his senior team debut, dropped 15 points, including two trebles, pulling down eight boards and two assists for 21 in efficiency to propel Mali to a 66-64 win.
Meanwhile, 22-year-old Fus Rabat center Aliou Fadiala Diarra, on his second assignment with the Alhadji Dicko-coached Mali, bagged a double-double of 11 points and ten rebounds with an assist, a steal and a block, helping the side to a 1-2 finish. Ibrahim Djambo was the team's second-best scorer with 13, Siriman Kanoute adding 10 to the final tally.
Mohamed Choua's brilliance for the North Africans was on display for all to see as he combined with Ayoub Nouhi for 38 points, completing his double-double, the only for Labib El Hamrani's side, with 15 rebounds.
"We are happy to take this win. It wasn't easy to play these three games. Even though we regret our first game, the mood is great. We are a step ahead of Morocco and will build on this going to the final qualifying window," skipper Djambo said of Mali's run.
Mali led 8-0 early on, Aliou scored five, with Djambo adding a trey, but Choua and Ayoub Nouhi pulled Morocco back to within a point (10-09) five minutes in and trailed 20-18 at the period's conclusion. The second quarter saw Nouhi grab the lead at 21-20 for Morocco, forcing Mali into an early timeout. The adjustments worked almost instantly as they went on a 9-1 run to lead 29-22.
Younes Boukichou made it a four-point game off a dunk, but the Malians kept pulling away, and despite back-to-back trays from Choua and Hamza Bechchar down the stretch, the Moroccans still trailed 39-34 heading to the halftime break.
Kanoute got the action going off the locker rooms from beyond the arc, Nouhi responding immediately for 42-37 in the opening minute. Djambo was suitable for five in the next two minutes, pulling the West Africans 48-40 away, a difference that remained halfway through the quarter at 51-43. Hamrani's charges went on an unbelievably dry spell, scoring just two points off the free-throw line in the closing half of the third quarter to end the period trailing 56-45.
Things went from bad to worse for the North Africans when Mali scored five quick points in the opening minute of the final quarter for 61-45. Samba Balayera stretched the difference to 19 with a trey. When all looked lost for many, Nouhi and co were reading from a different script, mounting a comeback attempt in the last six minutes of the match with the 25-year-old's score 8 of Morocco's 19 to come just a basket short.
"I am very proud of how we came back from 19 points in the last five minutes but that's how we should have played the last 35. This shows our levels of concentration and inexperience as this is a relatively new team with young players and we are yet to find our rhythm.
It is not an excuse but the reality but this performance tells us what we need to do in the last window to qualify," Khalid Boukichou said during the Post-Game Press Conference.
[Photography Courtesy of FIBA]
