Nigeria’s D’Tigers will not be participating in the men’s basketball ball event during next year’s Olympic Games in Paris.
This is as a result of Nigeria’s D’Tigers elimination in the pre-Olympic qualifiers on Tuesday.
Nigeria had lost to Senegal on Monday at the FIBA men’s pre-Olympic qualifiers at the Eko Convention Centre in Lagos. That loss means D’Tigers needed an outright victory against Mali to remain have any possibility of making it to Paris.
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Unfortunately, D’Tigers lost against Mali, succumbing to a 68-77 scoreline against their West African neighbours.
D’Tigers loss is indeed a costly one. As it stands, Nigeria will be missing from the men’s basketball event at an Olympic Games for the first time in 15 years.
Prior to this, Nigeria had also failed to qualify for the FIBA World Cup.
Lack of adequate preparation cost the D’Tigers
Before the qualifiers began, there was delay in action as a result of technical problems at the Eko Convention Centre. Critics and sports journalists have also blamed the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) for not adequately preparing the D’Tigers for the qualifiers.
Notwithstanding, Ogoh Odaudu’s men started the game against Mali very well. D’Tigers raced to a 17-15 lead after the first quarter.
The team led after the second quarter as well. By halftime, D’Tigers, who are the 2015 Afrobasket champions, took a 26-23 lead.
However, it was in the fourth quarter that Nigeria greatly fumbled, with Mali taking full advantage.
The Malians went on a 16-0 run in the final quarter, in from of a stunned Nigerian crowd inside the arena.
Mali eventually won the quarter by a very wide margin – 24-7 it was. It was a disappointing outing for Nigeria.
Uche Iroegbu recorded game high 26 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists for D’Tigers in the Olympic Games qualifiers encounter. Daniel Utomi had 16 points.
Meanwhile, Phoenix Suns star Chimezie Metu recorded seven points of his own.
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Nigeria sits rock-bottom of Group A with two points following successive losses. Mali tops the group, level on points with Senegal although they are with a better point difference.
Senegal will play Mali on Thursday to decide who finishes top of the table.
Earlier on Tuesday, Cameroon had destroyed Guinea 104-74 to claim top spot in Group B.
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