Wenyen Gabriel, South Sudan lose heartbreaker to Puerto Rico in World Cup

Day two of group stage action at the 2023 FIBA World Cup wrapped up on Saturday morning. Following an opening day stretch that saw former Kentucky players Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Canada) and Karl-Anthony Towns (Dominican Republic) shine in wins for their respective teams, another one-time Wildcat took the floor on Saturday — unfortunately with a different end result.

Suiting up for South Sudan, which is making its FIBA World Cup debut, Wenyen Gabriel is one of the country’s top players in the event. He proved that on Saturday to kick off group stage play, stuffing the stat sheet with 13 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals, and three blocks. The 6-foot-9 forward shot 6-9 overall from the field in nearly 32 minutes on the floor.

However, his efforts came in a soul-crushing loss to Puerto Rico, which took down South Sudan in overtime, 101-96. Despite trailing by double-digits, Puerto Rico rallied down the stretch to force overtime and sneak out with the win. Six Puerto Ricans finished in double-figures (four with double-doubles), led by 21 from Stephen Thompson Jr. Former LSU Tiger guard Tremont Waters added 19 points. South Sudan was powered by an incredible 35-point, 11-assist performance from former Louisville Cardinal Carlik Jones.

What did the rim ever do to you, Wenyen Gabriel?! 😤#FIBAWC x #WinForSouthSudan 🇸🇸 pic.twitter.com/KboKPVOqK6

— FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 🏆 (@FIBAWC) August 26, 2023

Puerto Rico crawled back from being down by as many as 12 points to make it a 76-75 South Sudan advantage with roughly 90 seconds in regulation. It was still 78-77 in favor of South Sudan before Gabriel turned the ball over with 18 seconds to go, leading to a steal by Thompson Jr. and a dunk on the other end for Ismael Romero that gave Puerto Rico a one-point lead.

South Sudan would foul the next possession, where Waters connected on both free throws to make it a three-point advantage for Puerto Rico. But there was still plenty of time left on the clock for South Sudan to tie the game and force overtime. Jones drilled a three-pointer with 10 ticks left before Waters missed the go-ahead game-winner on the other end.

The extra period was all Puerto Rico though, which scored first in overtime and never looked back.

Losing the first game in the group stage is always tough. South Sudan will now likely need to win both of its final two group stage games against China (Monday, August 28) and Serbia (Wednesday, August 30) in order to reach the second round. Serbia smacked China on Saturday morning by a final score of 105-63.