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Caleb Agada set a new three-point shooting record in the FIBA Basketball World Cup African Qualifiers on Sunday, drilling eight triples to help Nigeria’s D’Tigers close out their qualifying window with a commanding 100-84 win over Cape Verde.
According to FIBA.basketball, coming off the bench, Agada shot 9-of-12 from the field, including an 8-of-11 clip from beyond the arc, to finish with a career-high 26 points, adding six assists and four rebounds in just under 24 minutes at the Salle Multidisciplinaire de Radès.
His eight made threes broke the previous World Cup African Qualifiers record of seven, set by Rwanda’s Kenneth Gasana in a 79-77 loss to the Central African Republic in Abidjan in February 2019. Guinea’s Shannon Evans, Cameroon’s Fabien Ateba and Côte d’Ivoire’s Sire Dieng have each also hit seven threes in a qualifying game.
Nigeria never trailed, racing to a 23-9 first-quarter lead and taking a 52-35 advantage into halftime before pulling away to 76-54 after three quarters. Cape Verde rallied in the fourth but couldn’t close the gap.
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Josh Okogie also starred for the D’Tigers, posting 15 points, eight rebounds, 10 assists and four steals, while captain Ike Nwamu chipped in 14 points and Efe Abogidi added 11.
The win lifted Nigeria to a 5-4 record in the qualifying campaign, with three games remaining, after back-to-back defeats to Cameroon and South Sudan earlier in the window. Head coach David Fizdale said the victory was crucial for keeping the D’Tigers’ World Cup hopes alive.
“We needed that win just to stay in the fight,” Fizdale said. “I told those guys we get to five wins, we’re in striking distance of qualifying in the next window, and that’s all we needed, to give ourselves a chance.”
Fizdale also praised the team’s improved shooting after a slow start to the round: “I was really happy finally we made threes because we just couldn’t make shots the first two games.”
The overall FIBA Basketball World Cup Qualifiers three-point record still belongs to South Korea’s Lee Hyun-jung, who made nine triples in an 80-76 win over China.
