South Sudan secure first-ever Basketball World Cup win

By Emre Asikci

ISTANBUL (AA) - South Sudan on Monday secured their first-ever Basketball World Cup win with an 89-69 win over China.

Carlik Jones was the highest scorer of the team with 21 points and six assists at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon, the Philippines.

"We are not done yet. I don't really want to get into talking about the next game because we won our first game. It's history. I just wanna enjoy the night," Jones said after the game.

Kuany Ngor Kuany scored 16 points while Nuni Omot racked up 14 points for their national teams in the historic win in Group B.

"It's amazing to win. We feel blessed and honored to be a part of this, to be with my brothers. It's an amazing feeling," said Nuni Omot.

For the losing side, Kaier Li scored 22 points and Rui Zhao came off the bench to produce 13 points.

A total of 16 nations from the first stage that completed in the top two places in their groups will move to the second round.

The top two teams in the second round will qualify for the quarterfinals. The final will be held at Manila's Mall of Asia Arena on Sep. 10.

Serbia are on top of Group B with two wins, Puerto Rico and South Sudan have one win each, and China are at the bottom of the table without a victory.