COTONOU (FIBA AfroBasket 2017) – Cote d’Ivoire on Saturday took a giant move closer to the FIBA AfroBasket 2017 finals as they recorded their second victory in the first leg qualifier in group C with a 69-50 win over Benin Republic.

The victory, which put Cote d’Ivoire 2-0 ahead of Benin Republic 1-1 and Burkina Faso 0-2, saw the hosts side pulling the strings in the first quarter to end it at 15 -12 but the tide changed in the three quarters that followed with scores reading 8-19, 26-26 and 8-12 respectively.

Amara Kamate who had a field day scoring 15 points to lead the floor for the Ivorians was complimented by Amboudou Karaboue as well as Asshe Kakoun with 12 points apiece.

On the Benin side, shooting guard Romaric Akpatchi finished with team-high 16 points while his teammate Romaric Quenum poured in 11.

Despite the loss, Benin’s plamaker Akpatchi expressed hope that his country is keeping everything open.

“As a player, I feel sad that we lost our second game but our win against Burkina Faso give us the assurance that we can still turn the table when we get into the second leg’’, he told FIBA.com.

''Cote d’Ivoire had an edge over us in the game because we let our defense down. We understand their game now and we will work on our mistakes.”

Cote d’Ivoire’s small forward Venceslas Oka could not hide his excitement for his side’s one step away to the Brazzaville showpiece.

“As you can see, we’re very excited with our performance against Benin. They are a side that showed a great deal of determination but we were just better. Another win in Abidjan is certain for us because we’ve worked hard to secure the qualification.”

FIBA