Lille, France 28, 2024(GSN) - Nuni Omot made history on Sunday by scoring South Sudan's opening basket in their first game of the Paris 2024 Men's Basketball Tournament - the debutants' first-ever points in Olympics action.
Omot cut to the basket and was fouled by Puerto Rico's George Conditt at the 8:19 minute mark. He then stepped to the free throw line and made both free throws to make it 8-2 for Puerto Rico in the Group C opener.
Omot made his South Sudan debut in the FIBA Afro Basket 2021 Qualifiers against Nigeria on February 17, 2021, scoring 27 points. He also played in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 African Qualifiers and the World Cup, scoring 14.4 points per game when the team played in Manila.
South Sudan's first field goal came with 7:10 minutes left in the first quarter as Carlik Jones hit a pull-up jumper from 5 meters for the country's first basket.
Omot, Jones, and South Sudan are playing in their first Olympics - quite an achievement considering 13 years ago, they couldn't call themselves a country.
The last three years have been one first after another for South Sudan: their first FIBA Afro Basket in Rwanda in 2021; their first FIBA Basketball World Cup in the Philippines in 2023; and now their first Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. And now Omot has given the country another first.