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By Joe Apu, Accra
Nigeria’s national U16 team on Thursday proved a handful for Cote d’Ivoire in the FIBA Africa Zone 3 U16 Qualifiers for Men defeating the Orange boys by 67-38 in the opening game.
The energetic Nigeria side left the spectators no room as to where the game will swing to as they opened the first quarter a score of 16-6 and extended it by 31-21 by the end of the first half. Cote d’Ivoire seemed angered by the confidence the Nigerians were exuding and came out blazing in an effort to reduce the deficit with score at 47-34 by the end of the third quarter.
However, the last quarter proved the death knell Nigeria applied to subdue their opponent forcing them into turnovers 37 times as against 25.
The player who made the difference for Nigeria is Eric Cherish who scored a game high of 17 points and 3 rebounds and was followed by Sambo Abraham Madabu who scored 12 points, 6 assist, 2 blocks to his credit.
Two players on the Ivorien team, Kone and Diomande dropped 9 points apiece but their efforts were not enough to turn the table against Nigeria.
Sambo after the game said he was glad to have helped his team to victory.
For Coach Fubara Humphry Onyenabor said his players made him proud by ensuring that they contained Cote d’Ivoire from the start of the game.
After the tip-off, we watched their game and since it was attack that they brought, we decided on the next line of action.
“Our opponent showed us what they had in mind and we decided on taking them head-on. We’re grateful that we won but that is not to say that the Ivoiren side was easy. They gave a good account of themselves not minding the final result.
But for Coach N’gardinga Eloi, he says worrying about the loss to Nigeria. We’re focused on our next against host Ghana. “The young players must make mistakes and the earlier they correct them, the better for the team,” he stated.
