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By Bolaji Okunola
Nigeria’s senior men’s basketball team, D’Tigers will face Mali today in bid to redeem their image after suffering a 70-79 defeat to Cape Verde in the fourth game of the first round of FIBA World Cup Africa qualifiers in Kigali.
Yesterday, the team lost for the second time to Cape Verde at the ongoing campaign scheduled to prime them for 2023 FIBA World Cup.
Having lost to Cape Verdeans in the end-to-end match played on Friday at the Kigali Arena in Rwanda, the result was almost identical to the 71-79 defeat that the D’Tigers suffered at the hands of the Blue Sharks in the opener of the qualification series in November 2021.
D’Tigers were without Mike Brown, the team’s head coach, following his appointment at Sacramento Kings.
Alan Major led the Nigerians into the game and was buoyed by the talent of Chimezie Metu, Ikenna Ndugba and Christian Mekowolu. The team raced to a first-quarter lead of 15-14.
However, a combination of poor shootings from the Nigerians and the resurgence of Edy Tavares, a Real Madrid basketball team star, wrestled the game away from D’Tigers as they trailed 39-26 by halftime.
The third quarter further emphasised Nigeria’s inefficiency from the shooting block as Cape Verde opened a 15-point margin at a point. The Nigerians, however, scrambled the gap down to 9 as the quarter finished 56-47.
Although the D’Tigers emerged for the fourth quarter with renewed vigour and better shooting accuracy, the Blue Sharks took the game beyond their reach towards the end to register a nine-point win.
Nigeria is now second in the group with two wins and two losses from the qualifiers.
