VILLENEUVE-D'ASCQ, France — South Sudan rallied in the second half and Carlick Jones scored 19 points to beat Puerto Rico 90-79 on Sunday in the first matchup for both teams at the Paris Olympics.
It was South Sudan's first win in Olympic basketball. The country qualified as Africa's top team at last year's World Cup and will be playing in its first Olympic Games. Marial Shayok added 15 points for South Sudan, which will face the United States on Tuesday.
Puerto Rico led through the first half of the Group C match, but was thrown into disarray late in the second quarter when leading scorer Jose Alvarado left the game with an apparent sprained ankle. Alvarado returned early in the third quarter and finished with 26 points and five assists. Tremont Waters added 18 points.
But South Sudan took control late, building a 13-point lead with just over three minutes remaining.
South Sudan, which nearly won a stunning exhibition match against the United States in the run up to the Olympics, showed the same tenacity Sunday against the Puerto Rican team that beat them in last year's World Cup.
Alvarado was helped off the court by two trainers after landing awkwardly with 3.5 seconds left in the second quarter and quickly grabbed his ankle.
He continued writing through the pain when play was stopped seconds later before being treated and escorted to the locker room. Alvarado was the most dominant player on the court for either team in the first half, leading Puerto Rico with 19 points.
Alvarado emerged from the locker room early in the third quarter and returned to the game with 7:52 remaining.
But he couldn't save the team.
Nuni Omot drained a 3-pointer from the wing to cap an 11-0 run that gave South Sudan its first lead, 56-54.
The lead quickly grew to eight points. Puerto Rico was spurred on by seven points from Alvarado and trailed 71-69 going into the fourth quarter, but South Sudan outscored Puerto Rico 19-10 in the final 10 minutes.