South Sudan accuses refs of bias after basketball loss to Serbia

South Sudan head coach Royal Ivey yells to his team during a men’s basketball game against Serbia at the Paris Olympics 2024, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Villeneuve-d’Ascq, France. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France — South Sudan’s coach and basketball federation president said referees were biased against their team after a 96-85 loss to Serbia on Saturday that ended an exciting run for the lone African team in the men’s basketball tournament at the Paris Olympics.

Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 28 points to help Serbia move into next week’s quarterfinals.

South Sudan coach Royal Ivey pointed to a wide foul discrepancy as evidence of bias by game officials, and federation president Luol Deng said African referees should be part of major international tournaments.

“They shot 31 free throws, we shot six free throws?” Ivey said after the game. “Let’s tell the story. Let’s tell the real story, because that’s a travesty. How do they shoot 31 free throws and we shoot six free throws? How?”

Nikola Jokic added 22 points and 13 rebounds for Serbia, which finished second in Group C behind the United States. South Sudan’s loss means Greece gets the final wild card for the knockout round because it had a better point differential than South Sudan over three group-stage games.

“I was scared of South Sudan before the game. They had a great tournament,” Bogdanovic said. “Respect to them. We’ve known them since the World Cup. They really got better.”

Marial Shayok and Carlik Jones led South Sudan with 17 points each.

South Sudan’s Wenyen Gabriel, left, and Serbia’s Nikola Jokic battle for a rebound during a men’s basketball game at the Paris Olympics 2024, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Villeneuve-d’Ascq, France. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

Ivey said referees complained about his players standing in the bench area and threatened him with ejection for being out of the coach’s box, while tolerating similar behavior by Serbia’s coach.

“My guys were out there giving their all, blood, sweat and tears and you tell me how we shot six free throws? We shot one free throw in the second half,” Ivey said.

Deng, who starred at Duke and played 16 seasons in the NBA, said he thought the discrepancy was “deliberate.”

“I know Serbia is known for basketball, they’ve been great for many years,” Deng said. “The way, the style the guards play, it’s almost like the ref knows them. It’s OK if the refs know certain players to let them play their style. As soon as our guys play their style, they’re getting fouls every time.”

He questioned why there seems to be a narrative that African players are aggressive.

“I don’t know why there’s no African referees in the Olympics. It’s 2024,” Deng said. “If we’re representing the continent then we’ve got to be represented fully. That’s something that we’ve to to keep working on. But if these referees aren’t familiar with our game, with our style — then I don’t know what the world championship or the Olympics is. Is it just a European basketball style and we’re not allowed to be aggressive?”

South Sudan played like a team whose tournament was on the line. Players dove on the floor for loose balls and crowded around Jokic every time he got the ball deep.

There were also all-out effort plays, like Wenyen Gabriel sprinting for a chase-down block of Aleksa Avramovic during a fast-paced first quarter.

Serbia — ranked fourth in the world by FIBA — led 33rd-ranked South Sudan 47-44 at halftime.

Serbia led by five entering the fourth. And South Sudan kept coming. A steal by Peter Jok and an alley-oop to Gabriel got a roar from the crowd and shrank the margin to a basket.

Serbia just kept making shots, using a 19-3 spurt to take a 91-74 lead with less than three minutes left.

South Sudan has prepared for the Olympic spotlight since last September, when it finished the World Cup as Africa’s highest-ranked team, earning an automatic spot for the Paris Games.

But despite entering the Olympics with the lowest world ranking, it was clear just making it to France was never the goal for this team. It wanted to prove it belonged on the world stage alongside the greatest players in the sport, like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Jokic.

South Sudan got the Americans’ attention before the Games when it led the U.S. late during an Olympic exhibition matchup in London before ultimately falling by a point.

South Sudan then announced its arrival in its Olympic opener with a 90-79 victory over Puerto Rico. It turned a debut that began with organizers playing the wrong national anthem for South Sudan before the game into validation that it was ready to compete in one of the most talent-rich Olympic tournaments in history.

The U.S. imposed its will in its rematch with South Sudan, rolling to a 17-point win. Yet it was close enough to keep the first-timers in the hunt for a wild card.

It didn’t materialize and South Sudan’s inspired inaugural run at the Olympics is over.