By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Cote d’Ivoire had a chance to book a place in the Olympic Qualification Tournaments with a win, but France proved to be too strong in the end, finishing the 2023 FIBA World Cup with an 87-77 victory.
Isaia Cordinier led the French national team to its third win of the tournament, the second in the classification round, with 19 points and five rebounds for a game-high PIR of 26.
Rudy Gobert also had the best game of the tournament, with 17 points and eight rebounds. Sylvain Francisco added 15 points with seven assists, while Nando De Colo scored 13, and Elie Okobo had 10 points for Les Bleus.
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Cote d’Ivoire fought bravely; they were neck and neck with the team filled with NBA and EuroLeague stars but couldn’t withstand Vincent Collet’s team pressure in the final minutes, as France ended the match with a 13-2 run.
Nisre ZouZoua scored 18 points for the African team, while Solo Diabatae grabbed a double-double with 13 points and 11 assists. Vafessa Fofana also finished in double digits, scoring 13 points.
Lebanon leaves Iran winless and advances to pre-Olympic qualifiers
After defeating Cote d’Ivoire, Lebanon won 81-73 against Iran to improve its FIBA World Cup record to 2-3 and advance to the Pre-Olympic Qualifiers, leaving Iran winless.
Wael Arakji led the winning side with 21 points, Ali Haidara added 20, while Sergio El Darwich finished with 11 and Karim Ezzaddine with 10 points.
For Iran, talented Mohammad Amini had 22 points, Hamed Haddadi scored 14 with eight boards in what should be his last World Cup appereance, and Matin Aghajanpour reached 12 points.
Photo: fiba.basketball