South Sudan-USA warm-up match in London

The US Embassy in Juba has congratulated South Sudan Basketball Team on their spectacular performance against Team USA in Saturday’s warm-up game in London ahead of the Olympics.

South Sudan came close to shocking the world basketball number one – maintaining a comfortable lead from the start to the second quarter as the USA struggled and missed shots from range in the match attended by more than 17,000 fans at the O2 Arena.

But Los Angeles Lakers legend LeBron James came from the bench to put his men ahead – scoring 23 points as the game ended in a narrow 101-100 margin.

It is the only lose for Royal Ivey’s men, who have beaten Great Britain and Portugal in their last two preparatory matches of the Paris Olympics.

“Congratulations to the South Sudanese national basketball team on their great performance during the close and thrilling game on July 20,” the Embassy said in a statement.

“The U.S. Embassy wishes the South Sudan team the best as they head to the Paris Olympics. May their continued great performance be a source of pride, unity, and encouragement for all the South Sudanese people.”

At the Paris Olympics, South Sudan are in the same group with USA, Serbia and Puerto Rico – the last two of which they last faced in the 2023 FIBA World Cup in Manila.

The Bright Stars sailed to the top of African basketball and fielded an extraordinary show of class in the FIBA World Cup, making them the continent’s only competitors in the upcoming Olympics.