FIBA World Cup: Nigeria beats Cote d’Ivoire, moves close to Tokyo 2020

Nigeria’s national basketball team, D’Tigers defeated Cote d’Ivoire 83-66 and moved a step closer to claiming the sole Africa Olympic ticket at the FIBA World Cup in China on Friday morning.

The Nigerian team led by veteran Ike Diogu out-scored their opponent in two quarters, one ended in favour of the Ivorians, while the last quarter ended in a draw. The four quarter scores were – 24-18, 13-17, 28-11, 20-20 for a total score of 83-66 in favour of Nigeria.

After extending their lead by 17 points at the end of the third quarter, the Nigerian team did enough to protect their lead in the fourth quarter to emerge victorious in a game between two leading West African teams.

During the final phase of the World Cup qualifiers, Nigeria defeated Côte d’Ivoire in Lagos 84-73 points before suffering an away 72-46 points defeat in Abidjan to hand the Ivorians a World Cup qualification lifeline. But the D’Tigers moved a step further to confirm their supremacy over their African brothers with today’s 17 points win.

Nnamdi, who came up from the bench led the Nigerian team with 15 points, Al Farouq Aminu and Ekpe Udoh had 13 points apiece, while Stan Okoye and Ben Uzoh contributed 10 point each. Diogu, Ike Ireogbu and Josh Okogie also added single digit scores to put a gloss on the scoreline, while the Coach Alex Nwora decided to rest his son Jordan.

The Nigerian now has two win from from games- a 50 per cent record. They face China on Sunday.