Morocco were on Sunday crowned the FIBA AfroCan 2023 champions after they defeated Ivory Coast 78-76 in the final played at the Pavilhao Multiusos de Luanda arena in Angola.
The North Africans, who beat Kenya Morans 55-46 in the quarterfinals, were placed fourth in the inaugural event in Bamako, Mali in 2019 and finished the 12-team event with a 5-1 record. The Ivorians had started off their campaign with a 62-52 loss to Kenya.
Morocco were led by Mohamed Choua with 13 points and 15 rebounds while Kevin Franceschi had (14 points), Soufiane Kourdou (13), Ali Lahrichi (12) and Abdelhakim Zouita (11) also hit double figures for the winners.
Franceschi was named as the Most Valuable Player (MVP). He also made the team of the tournament alongside fellow Moroccan Jihad Benchlikha, Dieudonne Ndizeye (Rwanda), Evariste Shoganya (RD Congo) and Mike Fofana (Ivory Coast).
Kenya Morans, silver medallists four years ago, finished sixth after going down 67-59 to Tunisia. Kenya piped Nigeria 61-59 for their second victory.
To set up a final date, Morocco dethroned DR Congo 76-69 in the semifinals while Ivory Coast shut out Rwanda 74-71 in a closely-fought encounter.
Final table
1. Morocco
2. Ivory Coast
3. Rwanda
4. DR Congo
5. Tunisia
6. Kenya
7. Angola
8.Nigeria
9. Mali
10. Mozambique
11. Cameroon
12. Gabon
