Nigeria men’s basketball team, D’Tigers, suffered a setback in their second FIBA Afrobasket qualifier, succumbing to a 72-62 loss against Uganda.
The match, held at the Mohamed-Mzali Sports Hall in Monastir, Tunisia, on Saturday, saw D’Tigers trailing behind as the second-best team throughout the encounter.
The defeat came on the heels of Nigeria’s previous loss to Libya in overtime during the tournament’s opening game on Friday, leaving the team unable to bounce back. Compounded by the challenge of playing their second game within a 24-hour window after arriving at the tournament venue, fatigue was evident among the Nigerian players.
Read Also:
Similar to their match against Libya, only nine players from the 12-member roster were available for the game against Uganda. Leveraging this advantage, the Ugandan team took an early lead, finishing the first quarter with a score of 12-7 in their favour. By halftime, they had extended their lead to 29-19, leaving Nigeria struggling to narrow the gap.
Despite D’Tigers putting up a decent fight in the subsequent quarters, their efforts fell short as the Ugandan team maintained their dominance, securing a 10-point victory in the final quarter. Devine Eke emerged as the top performer for D’Tigers with 19 points, six rebounds, and seven assists, followed by Mike Nuga, who contributed 15 points.
The Nigerian team is set to conclude the first window of qualifiers against Cape Verde on Sunday. However, Nigeria’s preparations for the tournament were marred by controversies when D’Tigers initially announced their withdrawal from the qualifiers citing “lack of funds from the government” as a hindrance. The intervention of John Enoh, the minister of sports, facilitated arranothergements to ensure Nigeria’s participation in the tournament.
