South Sudan Earns 1st Olympic Berth in Any Sport After FIBA World Cup Win vs. Angola

The South Sudan men's national basketball team made history Saturday at the FIBA World Cup, earning the country's first-ever Olympic berth in any sport.

South Sudan defeated Angola 101-78, giving it a 3-2 record at the FIBA World Cup, and clinching its status as the highest-finishing African team.

Per ESPN's Brian Windhorst, former Chicago Bulls star Luol Deng started running the South Sudanese basketball program three years ago, and he was emotional after the landmark win, saying: "It's an unbelievable story. It's an underdog story that, not just for the South Sudanese, not just for Africa, but for the rest of the world. It's a feel-good story that majority of people can relate to. It's such a unique achievement because it's beyond basketball."

Following a civil war, South Sudan broke away from Sudan in 2011, becoming a sovereign nation.

South Sudan's most notable player is forward Wenyen Gabriel, who played 68 games for the Los Angeles Lakers last season, averaging 5.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per contest.

On Saturday, he registered a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds to go along with an impressive six blocks.

Guard Carlik Jones, who was the NBA G League MVP last season and also appeared in seven games for the Bulls, led all scorers with 26 points for South Sudan, and also dished out 15 assists.

Coached by former NBA guard and current Houston Rockets assistant Royal Ivey, South Sudan rose to the occasion during its first appearance in the FIBA World Cup.

The South Sudanese basketball team was established in 2013, and its best result in a major tournament was a quarterfinal berth and seventh-place finish at the 2021 FIBA AfroBasket.

South Sudan will finish lower than that at the World Cup since it has been eliminated from the next round of the tournament, but Saturday's win might as well have been a gold medal triumph, as the underdog nation punched its ticket to Paris next summer.