
RADES (AfroBasket 2015) - Angola, the reigning continental champions, beat Morocco 68-67 in Saturday's AfroBasket 2015 Group B action to stay perfect through two games.
The victory sets up a group decider between Angola and Senegal on Monday.
Edson Ndoniema came off the bench to lead the Angolans.
Abderrahim Najah led Morocco with 14 points and Reda Ali Harra added 13 points, but Angola prevailed despite trailing by as many as 10 points in the third quarter.
In the day's opening game, Souleyman Diabate led Cote d'Ivoire to their first win in the tournament as they held off Zimbabwe 64-52.
Diabate, who appeared to experiencing knee pain during the game, came up with game-highs of 17 points and 8 assists as the Western Africans won their their first game in Group D.
Zimbabwe's big man Vitalis Chikoko, who was called for his fourth foul late in the third quarter and forced to sit out, also had 17 points to go with a game-high 10 rebounds, however it was not good enough to prevent the team from losing for the second time in as many games.
Although Cote d'Ivoire led for most of the contest, Zimbabwe managed to cut the deficit to just two points later in the third quarter, but the Ivoirians prevailed.
Meanwhile, it was business as usual for Senegal's ace Gorgui Dieng.
The Minnesota Timberwolves big man had another dominant performance as Senegal defeated Mozambique 86-76.
It was the their second victory in as many games, but it didn't come without a fight.
Dieng offered game-highs of 28 points and 7 assists as well as a tournament-best 18 rebounds.
Despite Pio Matos' outstanding performance, the Southern Africans conceded their second defeat in Group B.
Matos, the MVP in Mozambique's top flight league, finished with 18 points and a team-high 5 assists while his twin brother Augusto Matos added 17 points in the losing cause.
The Mozambicans played their first game since the passing of Joao Chirindza, a former Mozambican international who served as the team's coordinator, on Friday in Tunisia.
After the game, team captain Custodio Muchate said: "We wanted to win the game in honour of the Chirindza family. Senegal is one of the best teams in Africa and we did everything we could."
In Group D's other game, Cape Verde beat Algeria 78-69 to move to the top of the group.
Both Ivan Almeida and Jeff Xavier stood out as the Islanders, who led by as many as 26 points, stayed perfect with a 2-0 mark.
Almeida finished with game-highs of 25 points and 7 rebounds for Cape Verde, while Xavier came off the bench to contribute 24 points.
Medhi Cheriet led Algeria with 19 points, while Abdesslem Dekkiche added 16 points.