How Ottawa's Marial Shayok nearly led South Sudan past a star-studded U.S. men's basketball team

It was nearly one of the greatest basketball upsets of all time.

South Sudan, 43.5-point underdogs in a pre-Olympic exhibition against the U.S., raced to a 16-point lead and maintained a one-point edge with less than 10 seconds remaining.

But a LeBron James layup with eight ticks left, followed by a missed shot on the other end, dashed hopes of a miracle victory for the African side. The U.S. escaped with a 101-100 win.

South Sudan will make its men's basketball debut in Paris, opening the tournament on Sunday against Puerto Rico before a rematch against the Americans on Wednesday in the second game of the knockout stage.

Leading the charge for the Bright Stars will be Ottawa native Marial Shayok.

"It's bittersweet because obviously no one thought we could even hang with these guys or it'd even be a game," said Shayok, who scored a game-high 25 points in the tuneup. "[But] it was good to see that we got to play with the best team, some may say in the world."

The world was watching!