Nigeria men’s national basketball team, the D’Tigers failed to leave the 2023 FIBA Afrocan competition with a win as they suffer another loss in their classification game.
Having crashed out of the quarter-finals with a loss to the Democratic Republic of Congo, the D’Tigers suffered yet a another narrow loss to East African side Kenya 61-59 on Friday.
The first quarter was a bit close in terms of statistics even though the Kenyans won 20-16. The D’Tigers made 34% of their 2-points field goals and 30% from the 3-poimts line while the Kenyans scored 36% of their 2-points attempts and shot 28% from the 3-points line.
D’Tigers, just like the game against DR Congo came back strong in the second and third quarters as they they won both quarters 18-13 and 13-11. Ogoh Oduadu’s men dominated the paint in the second quarter as they scored 54% from the 2-points shots.
While the D’Tigers were effective on the paint, the team failed to score from the arc. They recorded just 21% from the 3-points line. The Kenyans also struggled from scoring three points. They shot 28% only.
Michael Daramola and Chinedu Chimbuo were Nigeria’s most impressive players as they recorded 14 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 13 points, 8 rebounds and 1 assist respectively.
Coach Ogoh Oduadu’s men are expected to return to the country from Angola this weekend.
