
New Zealand guard Izayah Le Afa (2) shoots over Egypt center Omar Oraby (55) during the second half of a Basketball World Cup classification match in Manila, Philippines Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023. AP
Egypt outscored New Zealand in the first, third, and fourth quarters of the game, 25-22, 26-21, and 25-20, respectively.
However, they gave a poor showing in the second quarter when they only scored 10 points against New Zealand’s 25.
Since none of the African teams advanced to the tournament's round of 16, Egypt and South Sudan were left to compete for rankings from 17th to 32nd place and a chance at an Olympic spot.
South Sudan secured that spot by defeating Gabon 101-78 earlier on the same Saturday.
Now, the Egyptians have to play in the FIBA Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament to compete again for a chance to appear in the coming Olympics.
Despite delivering good performances at the World Cup, the Egyptian team lost the two opening games 93-67 and 89-74 against Lithuania and Montenegro respectively.
The team flourished later, beating Mexico 100-72 in the third game and defeating Jordan 85-69 in the fourth.
Egypt qualified for the Olympics seven times before, with their last appearance in the 1988 edition.
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