Indianapolis ? There was nothing even close to a medal at stake. There were barely enough people in the stands to fill a bus when the game started.

Don’t try to tell the players from Algeria and Lebanon their game Tuesday morning in the RCA Dome was the least important of the World Championships.

In a matchup of teams making their World Championships debut, Algeria beat Lebanon 100-70 for 15th place in the 16-team tournament.

The smile on Moured Boughedir’s face said it all after he scored 20 points to help Algeria (1-4) to the victory.

“Since this was our first time here we thought we would be playing for 14th, 15th, 16th place,” he said. “Now we can go home with a win in the World Championships. I hope I can come again.”