Raphin Kayembe’s dominant performance helps Congo DR recover with a win after they lost to Tunisia yesterday.
Congo DR recovers from a loss yesterday after Tunisia won their encounter with an 11 points difference. Congo DR has now played all 3 games in their Kigali window, winning 2 games. They now head Group A after defeating Madagascar, ahead of rivals Tunisia and this will not change if Tunisia loss their confrontation with the Central African Republic. Congo DR 82-64 Madagascar.
Congo DR played well today thanks to an outstanding performance by Raphin Kayembe both at the halftime break and at the end of the final whistle. The 6’8″ forward played 18 minutes of the game, making 19 points and 5 rebounds. Another impressive performance also came from Jordan Sakho who spent 21 minutes on court, making 10 points and picking 10 rebounds.
“It was very important for us to bounce back and when after a game like yesterday versus Tunisia, we felt like we were right there, and I know personally if I am on the court I always feel like we have chance to win, and I think I let my teammates down yesterday by not being there for them, but we all picked each other up today, they all picked up today to kind of be ready for the day, and this is a big win not only for us but for our whole country my country needed a win like this, and I know everybody back at home is very happy for us,” said Myck Kabongo Lukusa
“Well, I appreciate the victory but as a coach, you always want to look at the bad and the good. So like the effort, I like the camaraderie, I like that we won. I think still, you have to look at the quality of the opposition. Tunisia is a better team than Madagascar so, obviously, I have high expectations for my guys. So, yes I am happy we won,” said coach Mathias Eckhoff
From Madagascar, we saw great acts from Constant Fabrice who played 31 minutes, the most for the team, making 13 points and rebounds, and also Elly Randriamampionona who had 25 minutes on court, 17 points and only 2 rebounds.
Both teams have concluded their FIBA AfroBasket 2021 Qualifiers Kigali window games and wait for results from the game between Tunisia and the Central African Republic.
