Mali has won the 2019 FIBA Africa Under 16 Basketball Championship after beating Egypt 84-48 in the final game played at the Kigali Arena in Rwanda on Saturday, August 3.
The title win is Mali’s sixth in the competition’s history and the West African nation successfully defended the title won at the 2017 edition.
Mali ended the competition without a loss and had lead scorer Mariam Coulibaly named the Most Valuable Player at the tournament.
In five games, the young star averaged 26.8 points and 3.2 assists; she registered 30 points, seven rebounds and five assists in 30 minutes in the final game.
Egypt’s Lojain Elfatairy scored 19 points with teammate Aya Elfiky adding 11 points as Egypt failed to cancel a loss to Mali suffered at the preliminary stage.
Angola placed third to win the bronze medal after beating Mozambique 67-59 and host Rwanda finished in sixth place after losing 51-66 to Uganda.
The tournament is the first to be held at the newly built Kigali Arena.
By Yaw Adjei-Mintah
@YawMintYM on Twitter
