All the D’Tigers needed was back to back 3 pointers from their leader and captain Ike Diogu to settle their nerves in front of a boisterous home crowd at the National Stadium in Lagos and it was all Nigeria needed till the final buzzer to coast home with the win.
Diogu proved vital yet again to the D’Tigers and their quest to make the FIBA World Cup China next year, thanks to his game high 24 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists with Obi Emegano adding 15 points and 12 points each from debutants Tosin Mehinti and Jordan Nwora helped Nigeria to a comfortable 109-66 points victory over Uganda at the 2nd window of the FIBA 2019 African World Cup qualifiers in Lagos.
The Alex Nwora led side ran up with a comfortable 16 points lead at halftime thanks to a robust bench display which outscored Uganda 25 – 5 before finishing the night 45-11 in the end (Bench points) .
” I had 8 debutants on my team and was switching based on what Uganda had on the floor. I tried to give everyone a run and I am glad they all did well in the end despite a shaky start”. Head Coach Alex Nwora said after the game.
The Ugandans despite falling to a superior D’Tigers had 3 players in double digits Jordin Mayes, Deng John Geu and Robinson Odoch scoring 18,13 and 11 points respectively.
Apart from bench points Nigeria outscored Uganda 16-10 on fast break points, 15-9 on second chance points and 19-10 on points of turnovers.
All pointers to a dominant display.
Up next is Rwanda who beat Mali 82-72 in their opening game.