South Sudan coach accuses refs of bias in Olympic loss to Serbia - ESPN

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.

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