Monday Group G Côte d'Ivoire 71-69 Iran Côte d'Ivoire held their nerve late on to claim their first win at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023. The 2021 FIBA AfroBasket runners-up overcame Iran for a 71-69 victory in a very tight Group G game that went right down to the wire with three free throws from Solo Diabate proving decisive. Basketball: South Sudan beat China to earn historic first World Cup victory Côte d'Ivoire took advantage of Iran's four turnovers in five possessions by grabbing the lead in a tense fourth quarter. This stretch also included the fifth foul for Hamed Haddadi, who had been Iran's focal point on offense in the second half. ALSO READ: FIBA World Cup 2023: Who has reached the Second Round? Even though Arsalan Kazemi scored off an inbounds play to give Iran a 69-68 advantage with 13 seconds left, Diabate was the hero late as his courageous drive to the rim gave him the chance to win the game from the foul line. ALSO READ: FIBA World Cup 2023: Bruno Fernando steers Angola past Philippines Nisre Zouzoua demonstrated his usual self-confidence and knocked down several difficult jump shots to score a team-high 17 points in the win. Alongside Diabate, Zouzoua played a crucial role in the backcourt, which lost one of the team leaders Bazoumana Kone to an ankle injury. ALSO READ: FIBA World Cup 2023: Puerto Rico edge South Sudan after overtime Behnam Yakhchali hit a clutch three-point shot with one minute remaining and scored 19 points for the game, yet ultimately it wasn't enough for Iran to grab the win. After making the second fewest free throws (5) in Gameday 1, Côte d'Ivoire proved to be better at attacking the paint and converted 20-of-21 free throw attempts this time. The difference was especially stark in the first half, in which The Elephants made 11 shots from the charity line, while Iran were only 2-of-3. Côte d'Ivoire have ensured an important win for their Paris 2024 aspirations and will monitor what happens later in the night between Brazil and Spain. They will face Brazil in their final group game and still have a shot at making the Second Round. Iran faces the very likely issue that they will meet not only Lebanon, but also an annoyed France in the Classification Round. They hope that Spain would pick up a victory, so they would live to fight another day.
