The Nigerian men's basketball team recorded 100 percent performance with six straight victories out of six through out the qualifiers for the 2021 FIBA-Afro- basketball slated for Rwanda in August
D'Tigers rounded-off their second round of qualifiers in Tunisia on Friday with a comprehensive win over Mali 76-56 points, having beaten all the teams, including South Sudan and Rwanda twice, to set a new record as first team to qualify for the biggest basketball show piece in Africa with unbeaten record, winning 6-0 to top group D of the qualifiers
The highly rated D'Tigers had earlier defeated South Sudan, 75-70, Rwanda 64-51, before the 76-56 against Mali, to complete their dominance in the group.
The Nigerian side with the absence of the American Chief Coach,Mike Brown and Nigerian, Alex Nwora still justified their number one rating in Africa, under the stand-in coach, Mfon Udofia, as legend, Ike Diogu, spearheaded the onslaught against the Malians ,posting a double-double performance with 20pts and 11 assists.
With a 42.9 field goal percentage and three made baskets from seven attempted shots, Diogu ensured a smooth victory for the team whose immediate focus will be the 2021 Olympics and Afrobasket preparations.
The victory is an improvement on the back-to-back win against South Sudan and Rwanda, as the team finished the final game in a grandstyle with Ike Iroegbu and Mike Gbinije leading the offensive in the opening minutes as they raced to a 24-7 lead.
Michael Gbinije ended with 10 points, five rebounds and two steals as Keith Omoerah continued his rich form in the national colors with 10 points, four rebounds and three steals on a day all 10 players who stepped on court scored at least a point.
It was a game that saw D'Tigers complete dominance in the last quarter ,out-rebounded their opponents 48-39, scoring 15 points from turnovers as against 14 by the Malians
No comments:
Post a Comment