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SEVILLE, Spain – Senegal clinched their first victory at a world championship since 1998 on Sunday by beating Puerto Rico 82-75 at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
“We are happy to win our first game at the World Cup. Nobody expected us to at least win a game except us. We have to be greedy, say we want more and look forward,” said Senegal coach Cheikh Saar.
Mouhammad Faye poured in 20 points while Gorgui Dieng collected 18 points, 13 rebounds, two assists and two blocks for the Africans, who lost all five games at the 2006 World Championship in Japan.
Senegal’s last victory occurred on August 3, 1998 when they beat South Korea 75-72. Their only other win at the world championship was in 1978 – an 89-79 win over China.
“We’ve been chasing this for a long time. In Japan, we almost had it,” said Senegal captain Maleye Ndoye, a member of the 2006 team.
The Africans lost by only nine points to Puerto Rico and eight points to Italy at the tournament eight years ago.
Also in Group B action, Croatia defeated Argentina, 90-85, a night after being stretched to overtime by Gilas Pilipinas. Luis Scola had 30 points and 9 rebounds for Argentina.
Krunoslav Simon led Croatia with 18 points while NBA prospects Bojan Bogdanovic and Dario Saric each scored 16. Croatia import Oliver Lafayette had 11 points and 9 assists. – Rappler.com
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