FIBA World Cup 2023 Results: Scores, Highlights for Saturday's 2nd-Round Games

The second round of the 2023 FIBA World Cup is close to being wrapped up with just one day of games remaining after Saturday's eight-game slate.

Today's games marked the end of the classification round of the competition. This is critical for countries in their quest to qualify for the 2024 Olympics. Five teams in this section of the bracket are vying for one automatic berth in the Paris Games.

Here are the scores and top highlights from Saturday's action from the Philippines and Japan.

2023 FIBA Results - Saturday, Sept. 2

Group M: South Sudan def. Angola, 101-78

Group M: Philippines def. China, 96-75

Group N: New Zealand def. Egypt, 88-86

Group N: Mexico def. Jordan, 93-80

Group O: Finland def. Venezuela, 90-75

Group O: Japan def. Cape Verde, 80-71

Group P: France def. Ivory Coast, 87-77

Group P: Lebanon def. Iran, 81-73

Arguably the best story of the entire tournament has been the performance of South Sudan. The African country, which gained its independence in 2011, made its first-ever appearance in the FIBA World Cup this year by going 11-1 in qualifying games dating back to November 2021.

South Sudan defeated China in the first round for its first World Cup win. It followed that up by defeating the Philippines and Angola in the classification round to end its tournament with a winning record (3-2) and an automatic berth in the 2024 Olympics.

As he has done throughout the tournament, Carlik Jones led the South Sudan offense in Saturday's 101-78 victory over Angola. The 25-year-old had his third double-double in five games with 26 points and 15 assists.

Former Los Angeles Lakers big man Wenyen Gabriel had his second straight double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. He was also a force on the defensive end of the court with six blocks.

This is a still-young basketball program in South Sudan. Having this level of success right out of the gate the FIBA World Cup is a huge win for the country as it looks to establish itself as a major player in the sport going forward.

The most competitive game of the day was between New Zealand and Egypt. New Zealand held on for an 88-86 win thanks to Reuben Te Rangi's go-ahead free throws with 17 seconds left to play.

Amr El Gendy missed a go-ahead three-pointer in the final seconds for Egypt. Amr Zahran had a tip-in opportunity off El Gendy's miss, but he couldn't get it to go in the basket.

While the final sequence was the most memorable, the difference in the game was the second quarter. It was the only quarter New Zealand won, and it had a 25-10 scoring margin in those 10 minutes.

New Zealand missed out on an automatic berth in the Olympics with its loss to Greece in the final game of group play. It will have to go through qualifying tournaments later this year if it wants to be included in the field for the Paris Games.

One team that won't make it to the Olympics next summer is the Philippines, though at least Jordan Clarkson provided a memorable performance to wrap up the tournament. The Utah Jazz guard dropped 34 points, including 20 in under four minutes during the third quarter, in a 96-75 win over China.

Gilas Pilipinas was able to salvage one of its five games in the tournament. This is the third consecutive FIBA World Cup the team has won one or fewer games. It will finish 24th overall after going 1-4.

Japan locked up a spot in the 2024 Olympics with its 80-71 win over Cape Verde. The host nation likely would have advanced with a loss based on point-differential tiebreakers, but they took care of business to avoid any potential drama.

Joshua Hawkinson and Yuta Watanabe both played all 40 minutes in the win. Hawkinson scored 29 points on 9-of-14 shooting. Watanabe, who has been on the senior team since 2013 and made his Olympic debut in Tokyo, led the team with 10 rebounds.

Japan finished the World Cup with a 3-2 record and a victory in Group O. New Zealand, France and South Sudan were the other group winners in the classification round.

The second round of the 2023 FIBA World Cup wraps up on Sunday with the top 16 teams still jockeying for position. Notable games include two matchups between undefeated teams when Team USA takes on Lithuania and Germany goes up against Slovenia.

The top eight teams in the standings after tomorrow's game advance to the quarterfinals starting on Tuesday.