{"id":27040,"date":"2024-07-29T09:19:25","date_gmt":"2024-07-29T09:19:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onecitizendaily.com\/?p=27040"},"modified":"2024-07-29T09:19:25","modified_gmt":"2024-07-29T09:19:25","slug":"win-south-sudan-thumps-puerto-rico-in-olympic-opening-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/29\/win-south-sudan-thumps-puerto-rico-in-olympic-opening-game\/","title":{"rendered":"WIN: South Sudan thumps Puerto Rico in Olympic opening game"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Kei Emmanuel Duku<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In a historic thrill that sent shockwaves throughout the basketball world, South Sudan triumphed Puerto Rico, 90-79 in the Paris 2024 Olympics opening game, on Sunday.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Bright Stars overcame a sluggish start to outscore their opponents in the second half and secured a memorable victory at Lille’s Pierre Mauroy Stadium.<\/p>\n

Carlik Jones led the South Sudanese charge with 19 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. However, it was the introduction of 21-year-old JT Thor in the second half that proved decisive, as the forward\u2019s energy and scoring helped seal the deal.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

South Sudan dominated the boards, outrebounding Puerto Rico 55-47. This physicality was a key factor in their victory, as they converted 24 second-chance points.<\/p>\n

The win marks a significant milestone for South Sudan, who are making their Olympic debut. The team now faces daunting challenges against the United States and Serbia, with victory over one of these powerhouses required to reach the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n

South Sudan Basketball Federation President Lual Deng hailed the victory as a unifying moment for the nation. \u201cThis is for you, our fans back home,\u201d he said. \u201cWe believe basketball can bring peace to South Sudan.\u201d<\/p>\n

The triumph also carries historical significance. It is only the second time an African team has defeated an American team at the Olympics and South Sudan\u2019s rebounding performance ranks among the best in Olympic history.<\/p>\n

Puerto Rico\u2019s Jose Alvarado led all scorers with 26 points, but it was not enough to prevent the upset.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Kei Emmanuel Duku   In a historic thrill that sent shockwaves throughout the basketball world, South Sudan triumphed Puerto Rico, 90-79 in the Paris 2024 Olympics opening game, on Sunday. The Bright Stars overcame a sluggish start to outscore their opponents in the second half and secured a memorable[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":27044,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,79,92],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-news","category-sports"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/South-Sudan-basketball-Carlik-Jones-while-in-action-yesterday-against-Puerto-Rico.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27040"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27045,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27040\/revisions\/27045"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}