2017 FIBA AfroBasket: D’Tigers advance to quarter-finals

Defending Champions, D’Tigers  qualified for the quarter-finals of the 2017 FIBA AfroBasket championship with a convincing 90-67 win over Mali in their second game in Rades, Tunisia.

The Nigeria side top Group A with four points, which also has DR Congo.

 They will play the Congolese, who defeated Ivory Coast 81-60 for their first win of the competition, in their last group match on Sunday. Nigeria will hope to complete the group phase undefeated to top the group and get a relatively easy pairing in the quarter-final.

The Malians, who defeated DR Congo 87-82 in their first match on Friday, are now third behind the Congolese. They will play Ivory Coast in their last group game on Sunday.

The top two teams in each of the four groups qualify for the quarterfinals.

It was a more composed play from coach Alex Nwora’s side as D’Tigers dominated the four quarters of the game.

Nigeria took the first quarter 20-16 before taking the second quarter 19-17. The third and fourth quarters ended 27-18 and 24-16 respectively.

Ike Nwamu was the star for the Nigerians as he weighed in 22 points and two rebounds. He was followed by Ike Iroegbu, who got 18 points and nine rebounds and Bryant Mbamalu with 17 points, five assists and two rebounds. Captain Diogu had 15 points and four rebounds.

Ibrahim Djambo had 24 points and seven rebounds while Boubacar Sidibe weighed in 13 points and nine rebounds to lead the charts for the Malians.

Nigeria converted 51.22 per cent of their two-point field goal against Mali’s 39.13 per cent. The Malians converted 22.73 per cent of their three-point field goals against Nigeria’s 42.31 per cent.

Mali had 15 points from their bench while Nigeria had 13.

D’Tigers began their title defence at the competition with a nervy 78-77 win over Ivory Coast on Friday.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper )