The Ivory Coast men’s national basketball team delivered an offensive masterclass to secure a commanding 118-102 victory over Madagascar in the first round of the Africa FIBA World Cup Qualifications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pure Offensive Dominance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ivory Coast’s relentless scoring pace proved too much for Madagascar to contain. The Elephants showcased incredible efficiency from the floor, converting a stellar 54% of their field goal attempts compared to Madagascar’s 46%. While Madagascar matched Ivory Coast’s aggressiveness with 75 field goal attempts, Ivory Coast maximized their 76 attempts with vastly superior shot selection and lethal execution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Control of the Glass<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The deciding factor of the match came down to physical dominance inside the paint. Ivory Coast completely controlled the boards, out-rebounding Madagascar 43 to 33. This 10-rebound advantage limited Madagascar’s second-chance opportunities and allowed Ivory Coast to repeatedly ignite their high-octane transition offense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Valiant but Outmatched Effort<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite facing a heavily favored opponent, with pre-match odds overwhelmingly backed against them, Madagascar refused to back down. They put together a highly impressive 102-point performance that would typically win most international fixtures. However, defensive gaps and an inability to stop Ivory Coast’s inside game ultimately cut short their hopes of an upset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Ivory Coast men’s national basketball team delivered an offensive masterclass to secure a commanding…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":10625,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"codedeyo_gutenberg_meta":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,989,651],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-fiba-basketball-world-cup","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n