Angola guard Dimitri Maconda (2) shoots during their Basketball World Cup classification match against South Sudan at the Araneta Coliseum in Manila, Philippines on Saturday Sept. 2, 2023. - AP
MANILA, Philippines (AP): It was a chant that Luol Deng waited years to lead. He stood along the side of the South Sudan locker room after their run in the World Cup was over, cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled the same thing, over and over.
"Where we goin'?” he shouted.
"Paris,” the players all responded.
Deng's vision when he founded the national team about a decade ago was to use basketball as a beacon of hope for his homeland. And his vision never seemed more real than on Saturday.
A struggling country just 12 years removed from gaining its independence - making it the youngest nation in the world - is headed to the Paris Olympics as the automatic qualifier from Africa. Carlik Jones finished with 26 points, 15 assists and seven rebounds, and South Sudan rolled past Angola 101-78 on Saturday in the final game of the World Cup for both teams.
The win, combined with Egypt’s 88-86 loss to New Zealand in a game that went final about a half hour later, clinched the Olympic berth for South Sudan as the highest-ranked African team in the tournament.
"This team is a beam of light, like I keep on saying,” South Sudan coach Royal Ivey said. "We're bringing unity, camaraderie, love and friendship to this country. This country's only been independent for 12 years. To do this, for Luol Deng to put this together, this is incredible. This is incredible.”
Marial Shayok scored 18, Nuni Omot - the reigning MVP of the NBA-backed Basketball Africa League - scored 17 and Wenyen Gabriel added 15 for South Sudan (3-2).
Childe Dundao led Angola (1-4) with 21 points.
South Sudan joins Australia (the Oceania automatic qualifier) and France (the host nation) as teams to have clinched spots in the 12-team Olympic men's basketball field. Another berth will be decided later Saturday, when Japan tries to clinch the automatic spot from Asia.
The World Cup serves as a qualifier for seven teams - the two highest-ranked teams from the Americas, the top two from Europe, and the top finisher from Asia, Oceania and Africa - into the Olympic field. Those seven join France, and the other four spots will be decided in last-chance qualifying spots next summer.
"I love this team,” Ivey said. "Man, this is a great feeling. This is a great feeling. I wish I could bottle this up right now.”
At Manila, Izayah Le’Afa and Finn Delany each scored 27 points for New Zealand (2-3) in a back-and-forth game with 10 lead changes and nine ties.
Ehab Amin and Amr El Gendy each scored 19 for Egypt (2-3).
At Jakarta, Isaia Cordinier scored 19 points and Rudy Gobert added 17 in his 100th national-team appearance for France (3-2).
The Olympic silver medalists were eliminated from medal contention after losing their first two games of group-stage play, then won their final three games in Indonesia and leave the World Cup with a winning record.
Nisre Zouzoua scored 18 points for Ivory Coast (1-4).
At Okinawa, Lauri Markkanen needed just under 25 minutes to score 32 points and grab nine rebounds while leading Finland (2-3) in its tournament finale. Pedro Chourio led Venezuela (0-5) with 17 points.
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