South Sudan’s basketball team came close to a historic upset against a star-studded United States squad, narrowly losing 101-100 in an Olympics warm-up game in London on Saturday.
LeBron James, 39, the NBA’s all-time scoring leader, led all scorers with 25 points, including the game-winning layup with eight seconds left at the O2 Arena.
South Sudan, who held a surprising 58-44 lead at halftime, took a late lead with an 8-0 scoring run, setting the stage for a potential monumental victory before James secured the win for the US. “The ending was good for us — just to feel that, to feel what it’s going to feel like in Paris,” said US coach Steve Kerr.
“Good experience for us. Good reminder that when we play against teams, it’s the biggest experience of their lives and we have to expect everyone to play like that.”
J.T. Thor, a player for the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets, nailed a three-pointer with 20 seconds left to give South Sudan a 100-99 lead. However, James responded with a decisive layup, and South Sudan’s final possession ended with missed shots by Carlik Jones and Wenyen Gabriel.
“South Sudan was amazing,” Kerr acknowledged. “I did not do a great job of preparing my team. We did not focus enough on what they are capable of and that’s on me. I think that really allowed South Sudan to gain confidence early. Once we turned it up in the second half, they had already knocked down a bunch of threes and were feeling really good about themselves.”
James was instrumental in a 23-5 US run from late in the third quarter to early in the fourth. “We have to continue to take a step forward,” said James, a two-time Olympic champion and four-time NBA champion. “A lot of these teams that we’re playing have been practising either one month or months in advance and we have maybe two weeks together. So every game, every film session, we get an opportunity. We have to try to make the most of it, not taking any steps back.”
Cameroon-born Joel Embiid, who became a US citizen in 2022, contributed 14 points and seven rebounds, while Anthony Davis came off the bench to add 15 points and 11 rebounds for the US team.
“We’re not 100 percent together, as we saw tonight,” Davis said, “But it’s like I said, everything is controllable.”
For South Sudan, ranked 33rd in the world, Marial Shayok scored 24 points, Jones added a triple-double with 15 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists, and Thor contributed 14 points off the bench.
Shayok plays in China and briefly teamed up with Embiid in Philadelphia, while Jones plays for Serbian powerhouse Partizan. The Americans are set to face South Sudan again in the Olympics group stages on July 31 in Lille.
Reported By AFP.
