BAMAKO (2015 FIBA AFRICA U16 Championship) - Egypt beat hosts Mali, 64-63 in Saturday's Final of the FIBA Africa U16 Championship to clinch their third title in the competition out of four editions.
As they did in all of their previous games, the Egyptians got off to a good start, leading 12-6 by the end of the first quarter and taking a 23-19 advantage into half-time.
The Malians, after their slow start, fought back and made a game of it, staying within four, 38-34, by the end of the third quarter.
The last seconds of the game were full of suspense as Mali's Abdoulkarim Coulibaly tied the score with nine seconds left to play.
Everyone was expecting the game to go into overtime, but the Malians sent Egypt's Mohamed Youssef to the free-throw line with five seconds to go. He made the first and missed the second but it was enough to propel Egypt onto the top step of the podium.
Having reached the Final, both Egypt and Mali were already qualified for the 2016 FIBA U17 World Championship 2016 that will take place in Spain.
Coulibaly led all the scorers in the tournament, averaging 14.7 points per game, while Egypt's Ahmed Khalaf was the leading rebounder with 11.7 boards per game.
Khalaf was named the tournament's MVP and headlined the All-Star Five, where he was joined by his team-mate Mostafa Tamer along with Morocco's Sami Al Uariachi, Mostafa Braik from Algeria, Mali's Coulibaly.
Final Ranking
1- Egypt
2- Mali
3- Algeria
4- Angola
5- Nigeria
6- Morocco
7- Tunisia
8. South Africa
9- Rwanda
10- Equatorial Guinea
11. Ethiopia
Go to http://fibaafrica.com/u16bamako2015/index.php/fr for full coverage of the 2015 FIBA Africa U16 Championship.